The Weapon: Teen Titans
by PataTakeru
Summary: An epic focusing on Raven and Beast Boy. CH11 COMPLETE UPDATE: BB convinces Raven to let him make it up to her. Will it be worth the trip or will everything end in disaster? BBxRaexRobin, RobinxStar, among others. review please
1. Prologue: Pier 66

I do not own any of the Teen Titans characters.

This is a kind of mini-prologue.

Author's Note: Ok, so this story is getting a LOT of hits but very few reviews. It seems that the majority of people are reading this first prologue and then abandoning the rest. I assure you, even though it seems like the first chapter deals more with the villains than the Titans, it switches over very quickly. There is romance in this story…LOTS of it. I'm just trying to pace it out. This is first and foremost going to be a love story but, like many other good love stories, that won't be apparent until much later in the chapters. For now, I just ask that you give the story a chance. If you don't like it, please say so and tell me why. Flames are totally welcome.

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Pier 66

3:42 am.

The warehouses dripped as the rooftops seemed to bleed water under the constant pattering of the roaring sky above. The pacific storm abused the coast of Jump City as a lone figure walked alone among the docks, seemingly oblivious to the wall of stinging rain flying in from the west. He seemed to move in one swift motion, almost as if he were a floating shadow that was making its way past the buildings to his left with utmost purpose. 63. 64. 65. 66. The shadow stopped.

Lightning.

The man's outline stood tall against side of the building as another flash echoed with thunder behind him. The two elemental brothers seemed angry tonight. The sea was palpable. The tension, electric. Underneath shadows, a large grin could be seen stretching across his hidden face. He walked, straight forward, and pressed himself into the wall of the warehouse as his body slowly slipped through it.

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The Beginning

On the other side, the bustling of dozens of men drowned out the storm outside. The man continued to walk, still hidden under a crimson cowl that looked like a cape of blood, directly through the center as it were a procession. Large crates were constantly being opened, searched, stripped and repackaged. The workers of the storehouse grunted and toiled in silence as the red hooded form moved past them. In a building full of large, sweaty, hard working gruff men, there seemed only to be that one man dressed in scarlet, making his way past everyone around him like a ghost among the living. He made is way to the other end of the building and, with one deft leap, jumped onto the large platform that oversaw the entire depot.

"And how did your mission fare, master."

Without a sound, the Chinese warrior Katarou appeared from the shadows at the figure's side and slowly removed the sopping wet cloak that adorned him.

"It was very…productive." With those words, a large box flickered and seemingly appeared out of nowhere, into the man's hand. Its sides drew a length of a foot and a half. It was a dark, earthy brown with golden edges that met sapphire jeweled corners at each end, and, despite the pouring rain outside, it was completely dry and seamless.

"I am honored to witness your victories," Katarou said slowly as he bowed deep and low. "…master Slade."


	2. Chapter 1: Cyrus

I do not own any of the Teen Titans characters.

This is going to be a long and epic story…I hope. I understand that I do not have a very good track record with finishing stories but I plan on concluding all of them by the end of this summer.

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Chapter 1: Cyrus

"Cinderblock." Slade spoke as he placed the small gold gilded box upon the velvet pedestal before him. The large platform shook as another figure emerged from the same shadows Katarou had been veiled in moments before. The giant of brick and stone walked forward towards his master. Even when he knelt to one knee, he still towered far above everybody else.

"I hope for your sake that your mission went successfully."

The giant nodded.

"Good. Very good. Perhaps you are not as inept as I had thought. Katarou."

"Yes," said the Asian warrior as he immediately stepped forward.

"How go my operations here."

"Your empire flourishes, my master."

Turning from his servant, Slade once again faced the mysterious box. "And all for you, my little pet," he said as he traced his finger along the edge in front of him. The sapphire blue corners gave off an eerie glow, slightly pulsating and giving off a faint hum. Katarou eyed his master curiously, unaware of what the box might contain or why it was so important. Below the platform where the three villains stood ran one of the many smuggling warehouses that Slade had put under Katarou's control. Months ago, his master had found him half dead within a dilapidated hostel in Chengdu, slowly deteriorating under the abuses of depression, alcohol and narcotics. He had lost. The great warrior, Katarou, the master of all the known martial arts, had lost to a mere boy. The denial of training with the True Master was nothing compared to the shame he had incurred by losing to one with so many fewer years of training. The Brotherhood of Evil had given him some semblance at a hope for revenge but, just as before, Katarou was once again met with defeat. His discipline gone, so went with it his will to live.

But Slade's arrival had invigorated him. While it was the use of herbs, tonics, and the peaceful passage of time that had nurtured his body back to its former boisterous health, it was Slade's promise of new, unstoppable power that had reignited his spirit. His new master was more than infamous; he was legendary. Tales among the criminal community spread stories of his death and mysterious resurrection. Even though the unstoppable Titans had killed him, he had refused to stay dead. That was feat not even the all powerful Brotherhood had been capable of. Knowing full well of Slade's reputation and fueled by his grudge against the Titan's leader, Katarou had made the decision the second Slade had appeared in his door that this was a man he wanted to work for.

So Slade brought Katarou back to Jump City where the newly appointed apprentice found industry and empire. Much to Katarou's surprise, their operations did not involve the Teen Titans at all. Rather, Cinderblock was appointed to distract them as they slowly grew a smuggling empire that stretched across the entire continent. They now had storehouses in Gotham, Metropolis, New York and San Francisco, all of them trafficking everything from drugs, opiates and firearms to nuclear materials and xenothium. Slade's reputation brought him the best the criminal world had to offer. And now, unbeknownst to the Teen Titans, Katarou oversaw it all under Slade's watchful eyes. The power and money he now wielded were second to very few.

But this strange and mysterious box, of which his master had spoken of with the utmost importance, Katarou knew nothing about. Slade stood in front of him, surveying his own vast wealth among the workers below as a stray fly buzzed above his head, and Katarou could resist feeling that now, after all he had done for his master, he deserved at least some kind of answer.

But before any questions regarding the box could pass by the fighter's lips, Slade spoke without turning.

"Do not question my action, Katarou. Remember what I've taught you. Patience is a virtue."

The servant did a double take, pausing for a moment before uttering, "But master…I only wish to…"

"Quiet! Fool. Listen…we are being watched. Cinderblock," he said as the workers paused in their tasks and looked up at their anxious overlord. The villain slowly rotating to face his two minions before shaking his head, disappointed. "Tsk tsk. You failed."

The stone giant rose from his position, flaunting an uncharacteristic grin across his large concrete face.

"Wanna bet?"

And with that the monster raised its massive arms above its head, only to bring them crashing down towards Slade. Moving in one swift motion, Katarou rolled, drew his pole arm from his side and blocked the attack, protecting his master. The platform shook violently, rocking back and forth under the force of the blow. Gritting his teeth in concentration, Katarou held up the arms of the colossal stone goliath.

"Cinderblock!!" yelled the warrior, "What is the meaning of this?!"

"It means major league butt-kicking is BACK IN TOWN!" Suddenly, as the words issued from the beast's unmoving lips, Cinderblock's head split in two. The entire body separated amidst hot white steam erupting from its torso. A metallic and blue blur shot out from the inside and, before Katarou had time to react, dealt a devastating blow to his exposed chest. The martial arts master flew back, dropping the spear he had been holding, straight through the metal railing and into a stack of boxes piled on the other side of the warehouse. A cloaked figure dropped silently from the ceiling, leaping from one support beam to another, twirling brilliantly in the air, only to land before the unmoving Slade. As the dark intruder slowly rose, one arm raised perpendicular to the floor beneath and from his hands emerged a long smooth metal bow-staff. Jumping, the cloak was suddenly cast away as the boy materialized, swinging his weapon aggressively and letting out one single loud command.

"TITANS, GO!"

Suddenly, the fly that had been buzzing aimlessly around the lamplight grew enormous, instantly exhibiting a string of dreadful, jagged teeth, a long arching tail and a symphony of emerald green scales. The then fly, now tyrannosaur, fell with a crash among the panicking workers, letting out a roar that shook the entire building. At the same moment, two slender shapes burst into the warehouse through the roof, one pitch black and the other bright electric green. The crackling of vibrant energy and falling glass along with the charging terrible lizard sent the workers into a desperate frenzy, all of them shoving and pushing to get out of the depot and into the pouring rain as soon as possible. As the platform shook and finally collapsed under the stress of the attacks, Slade jumped, almost casually, lightly flipping off of the spiky haired intruder's swinging weapon, over the snapping jaws of the tyrannosaur, between the two glowing females in the air and landed softly before his enemies, even having enough tact to calmly bow as he reached the floor in order to dodge the bright blue energy beam that shot inches above his head.

"Ah, the Titans. For what do I owe this pleasure?"

Robin landed as his other teammates congregated behind him.

"This is no ordinary confrontation. This is the last time we're doing this, Slade."

"Oh Robin," the black and orange mask replied, "once again you are too quick to the most unlikely conclusion. Especially considering, I still have this." Slade produced, once again seemingly out of nowhere, the brown and gold box he had been clever enough to snatch back up the second he sensed an attack.

"No, this really IS the last time, Slade," cocked Cyborg as he charged his arm canon, "We're tired of your games. Your madness. Your…"

"Racketeering??" interjected Raven. "All of this," she said as she surveyed the scene full of damaged goods and broken machinery, "all your manipulating, your schemes and murderous plots and just for money? That's a new low for you, Slade."

Beast Boy, now once more a bipedal human, gave a slight chuckle as he said, "Yeah, I always thought you were all 'World Domination-I'm the next Duke Shazbot!' or something like that. Who knew you'd just resort to petty thievery."

"But regardless," spoke the Tamaranean, "this is where your treachery ends."

The rain had started to pour in through the new skylights Starfire and Raven had made, and small pools of water began to coalesce among the wreckage. Robin, tightly gripping his metal staff, knuckles clenched white underneath the black gloves, took a step forward, brandishing his weapon.

"No. It's not as simple as that. It never is with you. What's in the box, Slade?"

"Robin, as always, that is for me to know and for you to ponder."

"Actually, my poor doppelganger," said the identical voice from behind Slade, "It is for me to find out." A single red eye then appeared from the darkness as a large, bloody machete emerged from Slade's body.

"What the…"

The Titans all gasped in horror, suddenly taken aback as their foe looked down in surprise at the quivering blade protruding straight out of his chest. Looking up, the heroes witnessed the blank stare that had befallen their enemy, right before he slowly crumpled to the floor and collapsed in a crimson heap. From the shadows behind the corpse, one eye glowing from beneath his mask, came…

"…Slade?!"

"Hah…ahah." A twitch.

Suddenly, the bloody Slade shot straight back up with a wicked smile torn like a scar across his now malformed face, the blade still firmly entrenched in its chest, and grabbed violently at his double's neck.

"Not quite!!"

End chapter 1

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Please review! I beseech you! Flames are welcome among everything else. I would like input. I understand that the beginning chapter has more to do with Slade than the Titans but bear with me, the Titans will be the focus and there will romance, drama, and action. Stay tuned true believers! I will try to finish another chapter by the end of tonight.


	3. Chapter 2: Deathstroke

I don't own these characters (cept maybe one of em)

Chapter 2: Deathstroke

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"What? What is this?"

Robin could hardly believe what he was seeing. Before the Titans stood two versions of their most fearsome nemesis. Slade held his twin high in the air tightly by the neck, a large bloody blade still protruding from his chest. His mask seemed to be split where his mouth should be, exposing a large freakish smile that stretched nearly halfway across around his entire head. Teeth and tongue could be seen as he grinned maniacally, holding his struggling assailant.

The Slade in question, the one dangling by the neck, made muffled noises as he began to suffocate. His arms twitched and convulsed and his one eye could be seen bulging behind his mask. Suddenly woken from his reverie, Robin quickly raised his hand and was about to order an immediate attack when Slade made his move. Reaching into one of his concealed pockets, Slade swung his arm in one swift clean motion, striking down hard and fast with a butterfly knife and severing his attacker's gripping arm completely.

With a light thud, both the dead limb and Slade hit the floor, coughing and wheezing in an attempt to recover. The monster however, despite now missing an arm, remained smiling, turned his head ever so slightly to look down at the gasping Slade and spoke in startling deep and dreary voice that sounded nothing like his counterpart.

"So, my brother…you have come to reclaim your name. As I expected you would."

Slade, now fully recovered, only slowly rose in response.

"Leaving you for dead was apparently a mistake."

"It always is…Cyrus."

"Whoa whoa whoa! Break!" Beast Boy suddenly exclaimed exuberantly, "Somebody answer Robin's question! First you disappear for months, then you start your own crime syndicate under our noses, then you IMPALE YOURSELF, and now there's two of you with new one being twice as ugly as the original??"

"Beast Boy, calm down," Robin said, still staring straight at the pair before him.

"No, I will not calm down! Am I the only one totally creeped out by this?"

"No child, I doubt any of your friends have ever seen anything quite like dear Cyrus here." As Slade spoke, he began to circle the creature before him. Cyrus kept his eyes dead on Slade, his head slowly turning a full 360 degrees. Cyborg let out an audible shiver that had nothing to do with the cold rain pouring down on them.

"This fowl cretin is Cyrus. And he is far from anything that would qualify as my 'brother.'"

Instead of replying, Cyrus merely knelt down to pick up his severed arm, all the while having his head pointed directly at the Titan's arch enemy. Having grabbed it, the arm wobbled a little in the air, making Beast Boy gag slightly. To the shock of the young super heroes, Cyrus simply reattached the lost limb as if it and he were made of play-dough.

"Mother wouldn't like it if you spoke like that, Deathstroke. No…she wouldn't like it at all. We're family, whether you like it or not." Cyrus issued a small wheeze and, after flexing his body, gently pushed out the blade still protruding from his chest. It fell with a clatter to the floor. Cricking his neck, he stretched again, somehow causing his blood stains and the large flesh wound to disappear. Cyrus once again looked to be Slade's exact double, with the exception that his head was still a contorted mess.

"You used my name. You tried to erase me and then use my own face. Brilliant, I must say." Cyrus' grin only seemed to grow larger and more grotesque as Slade continued to speak. "But for what purpose? Did you really require killing me to get this…box?"

"He needed it," said Robin, suddenly interjecting. All the Titans jumped, startled by their leader's sudden voice. "He needed your name. Otherwise he could never have built up such an empire so quickly. And he needed that kind power in order to get…"

"QUIET!" snapped Cyrus, once again making everyone jump with his deep distorted voice. "The Metrion is no concern of yours, mortal!"

"But Cyrus, my old school friend…all but one of us here is a mortal…and that one isn't you."

Choosing the instant to strike, Slade burst out into a flurry of attacks, jumping and kicking and punching left and right. His fighting skills were nil unmatched in the world with only extremely rare exceptions, but Cyrus somehow made Slade look like he was swinging blind. Ducking, bending, and weaving, Slade's opponent contorted his own body to avoid the blows, stretching in impossible ways to avoid getting hit, all the while grinning manically. He moved blazingly fast, making short work of Slade's attacks, until suddenly he replied with his own sharp uppercut that sent his opponent flying.

It was Slade's gruff "Oof!" that woke Robin from his dream like state.

"Titan's, GO!"

"Wait, say what?" said Cyborg, speaking for the rest of his bewildered teammates, "Which one do we get?"

Cyrus cackled wickedly as Slade hit the ground. He then turned his head then to the Titans, bending his head almost inquisitively while licking his lips.

"Him! Get the fake! Get Cyrus! Get that box!"

Without another word, the Titans leapt, attacking in perfect symmetry. Unfortunately it did them absolutely no good.

Robin opened by thrusting a quick haymaker, which missed completely as Cyrus' head literally morphed away from the blow. Catching his leg in mid air, the Slade look-alike flung him directly at Beast Boy who was charging in the form of a rhino. Starfire raced in afterwards, shooting a torrent of star-bolts which unfortunately bounced harmlessly off. Stretching his arm a good ten feet, Cyrus' massive hand intercepted the alien before she had a chance to get any closer and viciously slammed her face into the floorboards. Cyborg ran forward, arching his powerful fist back for a punch when his enemy casually moved to the side in order to trip him, sending the half man, half robot barreling immediately into Slade who had just managed to get back up.

Raven was the only one left standing. Closing her eyes in order to concentrate, she focused on the objects around her.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zin..!"

Out of nowhere, Cyrus was suddenly on top of her. His long, elongated fingers grabbed her mouth and his snarling made Raven mutely gasp.

"Ah, ah! You wouldn't want to destroy existence as we know it, would you dearie?" His saliva dripped on her brow as Raven let loose a muffled scream.

"Ah…so young and beautiful," whispered Cyrus, "I'm going to enjoy eating you…"

"EAT THIS!"

A green ram suddenly exploded into the monster's ribs, rocketing Cyrus off of Raven and into a nearby steel pillar. Beast Boy continued to fight, jumping over Raven's stunned body and transforming into a giant silverback gorilla and swinging wildly in hopes of landing another lucky blow. But by this time, Cyrus had quickly recovered and made short work of the rampaging animal. Catching Beast Boy's fist, he guided the hero's momentum straight into a sweeping kick that sent the gorilla flying back.

"Let's not waste time," laughed the monster as he stood high above the dazed Titans. "This exercise is pointless. I have what I need and…and what? Where is it?! WHERE DID IT GO?!"

Cyrus padded his body, searching for something as if he had left a stray item in one of his pockets. He looked up towards the roof and let out a blood curdling snarl. The Titans followed his gaze to see Slade, standing by the edge of the hole in the roof, holding the brown box in one hand.

"YOU! WHEN I PUNCHED YOU! YOU…"

"Ta-ta, my old friend. And I do thank you for this new toy." And with that, Slade vanished into darkness. The titan's shock was blown away by the high pitched scream that Cyrus bellowed, his tongue flailing and his mouth looking even larger than before. Robin immediately got back up to continue pressing the attack but, just as Slade had done, Cyrus gave the Titans a quick mean look before disappearing as well.

"…"

"Well…anybody want to tell me what just happened?" Cyborg asked as he rubbed his head in confusion.

"I have no idea. But I'm going to find out, that's for sure." Robin made his way through his team, making sure they were all ok. Reaching down, he pulled up Raven, who was still quite stunned from Cyrus' attack, back to her shaky feet.

"Thanks."

"What? I save your butt and you thank him for doin nothin? How come I never get any appreciation for doing anything?"

"That's because you never stop begging for it. And you didn't save me, Beast Boy."

"Dude, whatever."

"I was fine."

"No you were…"

"Save it." Robin interrupted their usually after-fight bickering. "We need to get back to the tower, asap. Starfire, round up Katarou from the wreckage. Cyborg, call the police. We have a lot of thinking to do."

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End Chapter 2

So what do you guys think? From here on out, it will focus directly on the titans trying to figure out what's going on. Stay tuned, true believers! And don't forget to review!!


	4. Chapter 3: Clues

I don't own these characters.

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Chapter 3: Clues

"Oy vey, what night. That was the most pointless stakeout ever. All we got to show for it was a butt kicking."

"I don't think so, Beast Boy. It could have been a lot worse. We did manage to overthrow Katarou's operations. And besides," replied Robin as they entered the Titan's Tower lounge, "both Cyrus and Slade dropped some major clues. If you guys need me, you know where to find me." With that, the boy wonder left the Titan's company for his private study in order to ponder the night's events.

"Ahhh," loudly yawned Cyborg as he stretched, sleepy eyed, "That guy never sleeps. I don't know how he does it. It's morning already…" The sun began to peak over the horizon as he turned to leave as well. "I'm going to go put the cinderblock robot into storage and then get some shut eye. I need to recharge. 'Night, yall."

"I require rest as well," said Starfire as she picked up a madly jiggling Silkie, "I will see you friends later today!"

Beast Boy jumped over the couch and landed with a plop as the alien and the half robot exited. Looking around for the TV remote, he said absentmindedly, "What about you Raven? You hittin the hay too?"

"Raven?" he asked again when there no reply. Looking up, he saw her looking blankly through the windows.

"Huh? What?" she replied, woken from her trance, "What was that?"

"I said are you going to bed too?"

"Oh, no," she said, "I'm not tired…shouldn't you be getting some sleep?"

"Nah, I caught a few hours as a spider. No one can catch you sleeping on the job when you don't have eyelids! Haha."

Raven made no reply, not even bothering to send him her usual disgusted after-joke look. Beast Boy tossed aside the TV remote to face her directly, his head bent inquisitively, a curious look plastered on his face. "You ok? Hello, earth to Raven," he said to her silence, "Is everything alright?"

"Yes."

"You're lying. The last time you gave off that weird freaky vibe was around your birthday. What's the matter?"

Clearly aggravated, Raven gave him a curt "Nothing," before starting to walk away. Getting up to follow her, Beast Boy ran to catch up, grabbing her arm and holding her back.

"That's not true. C'mon Raven, you're obviously shaken up for some reason. Hey!" he exclaimed, a light dinging above his head, "you know what'd cheer you up?"

"…what," she replied through gritting teeth.

"Breakfast! I'll make waffles and tofu-eggs and you can tell me what's bothering you. Aye? How bout it? You know you want to!"

Raven's shook her head, her cowl hiding her annoyance, "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."

"Aw, you always say that. Please?"

"No! Just let me be." She pulled her arm fiercely from his hand and continued to walk away without muttering another word. As she rounded the corner and out of view, Beast Boy softly kicked the ground, his brow furled and his lips in a frown.

"I was only trying to help," he said to himself before heading back to the kitchen.

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"Robin?"

Raven cautiously entered the dimly lit study. Making her way around an evidence desk laden with trinkets and clues, she passed into the next room to find Robin hunched over a table, pouring into book after book.

"Robin? I was wondering if you needed any…"

"Ah, Raven," he said, pausing to turn around and look up. "Actually, you're exactly the person I wanted to talk to."

"I am?"

"Yes." He said as she walked over to see what he was reading. Several scrolls as well as many copies of ancient tomes were scattered before them.

"Like I said earlier, Slade and Cyrus both said some really interesting things tonight. It's obvious the two have a history together. Slade said they went to 'school' together, whatever that means and that one among us was immortal, though I can only assume he was flattering himself, considering he's already come back from the dead once."

Raven only nodded in reply.

"But what I don't get is what the importance of that box was. What is the Metrion? And does it have anything to do with…"

"My meditation words?" she interrupted, "Not that I know of. All those words do is help me call forth the aid of Azarath in order to help me channel my power. I've never known "Metrion" to stand for any physical object."

"I see," said Robin as rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "Did Cyrus say anything while I was stunned?"

Raven paused for a moment. "…yeah. I was about to finish my chant when he stopped me. He mentioned something about them…destroying all existence." At these words, she hung her head, dejected.

"What?? What does that mean?"

"I don't know."

"Hmm…are there any other prophecies that you are aware of? Anything else tied to those words apart from mediation?"

"Not that I know of," said Raven as she looked away apprehensively.

Robin slowly put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Hey. Don't worry about it. We know you're not out to destroy the universe. Been there, done that, right?"

"Yeah…" she replied with a faint grin.

"Well…you should get some rest. I'm going to keep looking for this 'Metrion' though."

"I'll look through some of my own books to see if I can find anything."

"Thanks." And with that, Robin sat back down, once again immediately engrossed in his research.

Raven slowly walked back to her room, the shadow of a smile still on her face.

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End Chapter 3

Not a lot happened, but I felt this was necessary. To preview the next chapter, the Titans get a distress call later that night. It turns out another one of their old villains is up to no good again. Expect an update tonight or tomorrow.

Oh! And while I can see that this story is getting quite a few hits, NO ONE SEEMS TO BE REVIEWING. REVIEW, YOU **ZORDMORKING CLORBAGS!!! **


	5. Chapter 4: Reckoning

I don't own these characters.

Author's note: sorry about the typos in previous chapters. I'll try to do better but I seem to miss things a lot.

Chapter 4: Reckoning

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Raven walked into the common room later that same day to find Beast Boy and Cyborg once again playing their favorite video games. She rubbed her beleaguered eyes and gave a faint yawn as she walked. The sounds of the lasers, rockets, taunts and crashes were ignored as she silently made her way to the kitchen. Starfire was sitting by the counter, reading a shopping catalogue when she noticed Raven set out her tea kettle.

"Friend! Did you partake in the nap of cats as well?"

"I haven't been sleeping. I…read a book."

"A book?" asked Starfire, pushing her magazine aside, "Did you make sure this one was not of the possessed kind?"

"…no, how many times do I have to tell you? Earth books generally don't come haunted with mythical creatures."

"But what about…"

"Ugh…that was an exception."

"Well I am just making sure," Starfire replied, smiling brightly. "I am sorry to have brought to light foul memories. But perhaps my day's events will brighten your mood! First I fed Silkie, then I took a nap, THEN I went to see Robin, then I fed Silkie again, then I burped him because he had 'the gas'…"

Raven sat there, half listening to Starfire talk, half letting her mind wander. Doom and gloom dominated her thoughts as she worried about Cyrus and Slade. Despite her best attempts, she could not produce anything from her ancient texts regarding a so called "Metrion" or the dangers it possessed. She had tried researching her own meditation words but came up with definitions she already knew.

"…and then, oh and THEN, Robin presented me with this!"

Suddenly brought back to reality, Raven looked at the ticket Starfire waved wildly in her hand.

"It is a ticket to the…er…"

"Spinal-tap?!?"

"Y-yes…I hope it does not hurt as much as it sounds. But Robin will be with me when I go. It is in celebration of our lunar anniversary, as he calls it!"

"Wow," said Raven, slightly nonplused, "a heavy metal concert. How romantic. It's been a month already?"

Starfire nodded furiously, her face stretched in an enormous smile.

"You two have really hit it off since Tokyo." Raven gave Starfire a small smile, much to the alien's delight.

"Oh, I cannot wait! It shall be glorious! Now I must go see him. Perhaps I will bring him a drink so he can rest from his research." With those words, Starfire got up with a gleeful hop, got a soda from the fridge and floated off to Robin's room. As she left, Raven's eyes dropped back down to the floor. Her smile was now replaced with a bemused look of uncertainty. Catching herself before anyone noticed, she shook her head and resumed making tea. Meanwhile, the two teenage boys had a shouting matching match in the background.

"BAHAH! Finally! Oh, how the mighty have fallen!"

"Oh, man, that so does NOT COUNT. Dude, you turned into a gorilla and BLEW ONE in my face! It's a wonder I still have a nose! Do over!"

"Ah, ah," said Beast Boy as he put down the controller and began walking away, "times like this, it's best one quits while they're ahead."

"But you cheated!"

Beast Boy laughed, almost snorting the words, "All's f-fair in love a-and f-f-farts! Bahaha!"

Cyborg just grumbled. "Raven! C'mon, girl, referee here."

"No chance! Raven's totally siding with me on this one," said the green skinned titan as he leaned on the counter next to her.

The goth teen merely looked at him blankly over her steaming cup. "You stink. Cyborg wins."

"Booyah! Now get your green fungus-butt back here for round two!"

"Aaaw…" said Beast Boy as he frowned at Raven, "You never take my side."

She calmly resumed sipping her tea. "Impartial decisions are my forte."

"Yeah, whatever…" he moaned, starting to walk away. Before he got two steps in though, he stopped abruptly, turned back around and said, "Oh yeah. Uh, sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to pry. I was just worried."

"It's ok," said Raven, still monotone, "Sorry I snapped at you." The two grinned slightly at each other as all the tension between them vanished immediately.

"Oh BB, I'm waiting!" Cyborg interrupted, dangling the second player controller seductively. "Let's get this rematch started!"

"It's going to have to wait." Robin marched into the room with Starfire following him, doe-eyed. "We've got trouble."

"Cyrus?" asked Raven, anxiously.

"No, not him, but it's not much better." He flipped on the main view screen. To their horror, two of their most dangerous villains could be seen destroying a large part of Jump City. Adonis and Plasmus were causing destruction on a massive scale.

"I don't know who decided to pair those two up but they deserve a swift boot to the ass."

"Yes, I agree with Cyborg's plan," said Starfire as she looked worriedly on at the wrecking havoc, "we should kick the butt as soon as possible."

"Let's go," said Raven, heading for the door. A gloved hand quickly reached out and grabbed her shoulder.

"Wait," said Robin, his voice deathly serious, "Listen. We can't afford you leaving the tower. You have something to do with that box last night. Cyrus could be behind this. Adonis and Plasmus aren't even trying to steal anything; they're just tearing up the place. Whoever sprung those two out of prison did so for a reason. I know you don't like this Raven, but it could be a trap."

The room went silent. Raven stood still, her face slowly contorting with anger until she could do nothing but snap at Robin fiercely.

"Are you kidding? Those two are formidable on their own. Teamed up, they could be-"

"We're just going to have to chance it. Until we know exactly what we're up against, I'm going to have to ask you to stay here as back up."

"But we **know** what we're up against!" Beast Boy's interjection surprised everyone. "We can hardly take those guys out with all of us together, and Raven is the only one who can put Plasmus to sleep almost instantly. 'Back-up' isn't going to cut it. We're going to need her there."

"…"

Stunned, Raven looked at the young green boy appreciatively. She was about to speak again when Robin cut her off.

"Like I said, we're just going to have to chance it. I know you guys don't always agree with my decisions but I've thought about this long and hard and the risks are just too great. It could be a trap and until we know that either Slade or Cyrus aren't involved, I can't let Raven come. Please," he said as his entire team seemed to grumble in frustration, "trust me on this."

The rest of the Titan's made no reply. Instead they all looked at the floor, angry. Despite how much Robin got on their nerves sometimes, and regardless of how much they hated to admit it, he was usually more right than wrong when it came to his theories. There was a reason he was team leader and they were not.

"…"

"Well…alright. Come on guys," he said, taking the silence as a sign of compliance, "we're wasting time standing here. Raven, please watch us on the monitors. I'll call if we need you to teleport to us. But whatever happens, and I mean whatever, you aren't to come unless I give the order. Under no other circumstances."

She nodded silently.

"Sorry again…" With that, the Titans left, leaving behind a very depressed Raven.

At the crime scene, Plasmus and Adonis continued to cause more and more mayhem with every moment that passed. It seemed as if the two criminals were set on leveling the city.

"Man, Plasmus, this is great! We should have done this a long time ago."

"SCHWAAAAAAR!!"

"I know! I'm getting a serious work out too!"

"BLAAASCHWHEER!!"

"Dude, I totally agree! You're the best work out buddy, ever!"

"I think you guys should probably throw in the towel…," said a familiar voice echoing from the sky, "Because you're both washed up!"

Robin and the others landed one by one into view, poised and ready for action.

"The Teen Titans!" exclaimed Adonis, "We've been expecting you! But how do you guys always manage to show up with such cool entrances?"

"Aw, it's pretty easy," said Cyborg nonchalantly, "Robin makes us practice posing during combat training. Plus we spend a good amount of time waiting for the right moment to appear."

"Like this one?!" Lightning flashed in the background as a motorcycle revved loudly on the roof of one of the few remaining buildings.

"Johnny Rancid!" exclaimed Robin.

"Aw, him too?" said Beast Boy, "what is this, the bad guy Olympics?"

Without further ado, Robin shouted "Titans, GO!" and the battle was underway.

"This isn't going to be as easy like last time, bird boy!" said Rancid as he and his bike rode down the side of the building to meet their foe. "Thanks to a friend, we're ready for you!"

Robin leapt forward, ignoring the taunts as he tried to land a kick to the chest. Expecting such a frontal attack, an explosion of intense light and color erupted from the ground just in front of Robin as Rancid threw the grenade concealed in his hand. It blinded everybody, with the exception of the three super-villains who knew exactly when to turn away. Dazed and confused, the Titans stumbled around, sightless. Robin screamed in pain as he clutched his eyes, having been closest to the blast and incurring the most damage.

"That's Ok," said Cyborg as he squeezed shut his human eye and charged his sonic cannon, aiming it at Plasmus, "Thankfully, my spare eye can take it."

"But can it take this?"

A large red beam hit Cyborg squarely in the back as he cried out in anguish. Large

crimson sparks emanated from his body as he convulsed on the floor.

"An EMP cannon! Agh!" shouted Cyborg as he struggled, "but my body is built to withstand EMP attacks!"

"You're not the only person who tinkers with toys," taunted Adonis as he blasted him a second time. "thank your old frien-AUUGH!"

Beast Boy had charged him as a Triceratops, knocking him clear through a building. When he was blinded, he had flopped around useless for a second before realizing that in his case, eyes were completely optional. After morphing into a blind salamander to regain his senses, he had rushed into the fight to help his friend.

"Cyborg? CYBORG! Speak to me, buddy! Give me a sign!" But the half man, half robot was completely de-powered and unmoving, fixed in a stone-like grey.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM??" screamed Beast Boy as he charged Adonis, "Fix him! Change him back!"

But Adonis only laughed as he wrestled with all of Beast Boy's animal forms. Brute force didn't seem to work as the cybernetically enhanced Adonis matched him, blow for blow. Thinking quickly, the changeling morphed into a snake, wrapped and around his opponent's neck, then turned quickly into an Elephant in hopes of crushing him. Unfortunately, Adonis simply picked up the large green mammal and threw him to his partner in crime.

"Plasmus! Catch!" The large magenta blob opened its mouth and with a small gulp!, swallowed him whole.

Back at the Tower, Raven was practically having a fit.

"Oh my god, Beast Boy…ROBIN! GET UP! Cyborg! Get up! Somebody…" she said weakly, "Starfire! Help him!"

As if hearing her friend's plea, Starfire's alien eyes seemed to focus and through much blinking, she regained her use of sight. Looked around her, she was horrified to see the state of her friends. Cyborg was lifeless on the ground and Robin could barely hold his own against the torrential attacks of Johnny Rancid. Looking over at the other two villains, she saw Adonis laughing hysterically while Plasmus made an absurd chewing motion.

"Beast Boy!!" Realizing what had happened, Starfire charged in a flurry of star-bolts, dazing her two opponents. Flying as fast as she could, arms outstretched, Starfire burst through the purple monster and flew out the other side, her friend tightly grasped in her arms.

"YES!" exclaimed Raven as she jumped from her chair. Catching herself in her fit of emotion, Raven immediately sat back down again. Smoothing her cloak, she tried to breathe in and out deeply, calming her emotions and channeling her powers. Even though she was not there at the battle grounds, she could still feel what her friends were feeling and the anxiety was nearly killing her.

Beast Boy and Starfire landed a few yards from Plasmus, coughing and wheezing. Beast Boy let out a large sneeze before turning to the side and puking a slimy substance that matched his own skin tone.

"Augh…I think I'm going to be sick…"

"I agree. This…blech…this is most unpleasant." Starfire wiped the crud off her face, pouting horribly.

"Ok," said Beast Boy as he got up, "No time to waste…ech…ptewie…oh man, I really am sick…" He leaned over and puked again, hacking and coughing. Starfire patted him on the back as he nearly threw up a lung.

"Oh god…Star, I don't think I can get anywhere near the snot ball again. Ugh…you take him, I'll take Adonis."

"Agreed," said Starfire, even though inside she hated the idea of facing Plasmus again. Patting Beast Boy reassuringly on the back one more time, she flew off to face the monster.

Looking around, Beast Boy spotted Adonis who was staring directly at him. There was a large, fearsome grin on his face and his eyes seemed to pierce straight through the green hero.

"We were ready for you too, puny beast butt," he taunted from a distance, "Come on! Time for the pain train!"

Beast Boy wiped the rest of the slime from his hands and raced forward. He had beaten Adonis alone before, he knew he could do it again. Charging head fist, He jumped in the air, prepared to morph into a Tyrannosaur. But it didn't happen. Instead he was met with Adonis' swinging fist which shattered his nose and sent him flying into a brick wall.

"AUGH!" he screamed as he fell. Adonis slowly walked forward, cracking his knuckles.

"Told you we were prepared. Before you got here, Plasmus stocked up on exactly what he needed to expose you for the weakling you are."

"I…I...," gasped Beast Boy, "W-hat? Augh! Where's Raven? I'm not w-weak…"

The armor suited giant picked the teenager up with two fingers. "I beg to differ."

What followed was the worst beating of Beast Boy's life. Punch. Kick. Uppercut. Throw. Jab. Punch. Punch. Adonis landed every blow with pinpoint accuracy, breaking bone after bone and sending the green hero flying. Without the aid of his animal self, Beast Boy could do practically nothing to defend himself. And with his friends being either busy or out of commission, there wasn't any help coming any time soon either.

"See. Pathetic." Adonis held Beast Boy before him and spat in his face. Bruised and bleeding, the boy moaned as Adonis shook him back and forth.

"How disappointing. And to think, this ceremony wasn't even for you. It's too bad your other weakling friend didn't show up. We were ready for her too. But it doesn't matter. She's going to die, just like you. Our new boss is making sure of that. He's got something special planned for her. And it's not going to be pretty. It'll be nice and slow. What?" he said, grinning horribly as his victim remained speechless, "No Hero banter? No joke?"

Reacting almost instinctively, Beast Boy lashed out with the last bit of his strength, thrusting two bloody fingers into Adonis' exposed eyes.

"AUUUGH!!" he yelled in pain. He shook Beast Boy in the air with fury before angrily throwing him as hard as he could, straight into the pavement. Beast Boy landed with a flop as his head hit the ground. Garfield Logan laid still and silent as Adonis knelt in agony, clutching his blind eyes.

"Oh God no." Raven could sit still no longer. "B…B-east Boy. Oh my God, no. I-I shouldn't have stayed. Oh my God. I don't care what Robin says, I have to help him."

She enveloped herself in black energy, prepared to leave and help her friends.

"Leaving so soon, Raven?"

The all too familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. Shock etched her face as she slowly, timidly turned around, terrified to see the face she knew would be there.

"That wouldn't be very polite for your house guests, would it?" Slade stood standing alone in the common room doorway.

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End Chapter 4

How was that guys? Pretty intense eh? The next chapter delves more into my original idea for this fanfic. Is beast boy still alive? Will he recover? What happens to Raven? I'll be updating again soon )

In the meantime, please review! 4 chapters and only 6 reviews, that stinks  I need input!


	6. Chapter 5: In the Mind's Eye

I don't own these characters.

Chapter 5: In the Mind's Eye

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"You! What are you doing here? What do you want?"

"What any man wants: a young girl to keep him company."

Slade slowly walked down the few steps into the Titan's lounge. Behind him limped…Katarou. The fighter was badly injured and looked as if he could barely stand. Cyborg had worked quite a number on him and Raven could see he was still grasping his shattered ribs as he walked.

"What do you want??" Raven repeated as Slade slowly drew closer. "I have to go. I have to help my friends."

"And leave me to destroy your tower while you're out? You have quite an arsenal of trinkets you Titans have confiscated over the years," he said, almost sarcastically, "You wouldn't want them to fall into the wrong hands, would you?" Katarou coughed in the background, moaning slightly as he followed his master.

"How did you get in here? What do you want?" She was repeating herself. Raven's mind was in such a state of panic she seemed barely able to construct basic sentences. Beast Boy was in trouble. Robin and the other Titans were in trouble. She needed to get to them, this she knew, but she also couldn't just leave Slade to dismantle or booby trap or do as he pleased with their home.

"I had an operative in here for quite some time…did you really think I wouldn't have taken advantage of the situation?" Slade looked around the room, "that robot of yours is good for nothing. Terra was in here more than a year ago and yet nothing has changed. Sloppy, sloppy."

Slade drew ever closer as spoke, "Robin has become so predictable after all this time. Rushing off into battle, leaving one of his closest friends behind in the name of caution. This was almost too easy. I'd ask you to thank him for me but I don't think you'll get the chance."

"Ok, that's it." Raven's eyes began to glow a deep, hollow black as she raised the furniture around her. Slade simply smiled.

"Watch your tongue, child. Remember what the old fool told you?" Just as his doppelganger had done before, Slade stretched out his hands and, with the flick of the wrist, the gold lined box once again appeared before him.

_So it __**is**__ Slade_, thought Raven. She looked back and forth warily between the box and the man holding it. Well, she thought, it apparently wasn't the manifestation of her powers that caused any harm. As long as she didn't meditate while attacking, things should presumably be fine. All that meant was that her precision and accuracy would be off and that the chance of her loosing control increased dramatically. It had always been one of her most overbearing fears, but as most of the Titan's living room set flew towards Slade, she thought that going overboard on Slade might not be such a bad idea.

Moving quickly, Slade reached beside him and pulled the half delirious warrior instantly in front of him. Raven gasped, but before she could stop it, the living room sofa crashed straight into Katarou, making him yell horribly in pain. He began to cough up blood as he dangled almost lifelessly by Slade's hand.

"M-master, what are you doing?"

Slade slowly leaned in and whispered, "I am not your master."

Katarou's eyes widened just before he felt the sharp cold piercing of a knife slowly slip into his back. The warrior cried out in agony and Raven looked away as he convulsed in Slade's arms.

"Fool. You think I broke you out of your jail cell tonight because I _liked_ you? You should have known better. All I needed was for you to be **fresh**."

After withdrawing the blade, the lifeless body crumpled to the floor with a hideous crash that made Raven jump. Taking his dagger, Slade let the crimson droplets fall in flecks over the box which almost seemed to float before him. The Metrion began to glow and as more droplets fell, the more it seemed to turn the shade of pure gold. Raven looked on in shock.

"I was lucky to stumble across Cyrus at the same moment you Titans did," he said to her disgusted face, "if you had not been there to distract him, I may never have gotten my hands on the Metrion. At first I could hardly believe what he was saying. I never did believe in this particular artifact of legend. But he had actually managed to find it. And all with my name. Poor witless Katarou," said Slade as he looked pitifully at the dead body, "he had no idea Cyrus was amassing resources simply to liquidate them all in order to find his way to this. Where did you say he had gone to find it?" he jokingly asked the body," Samaria? But it doesn't matter. I have the Metrion and the halfwit served a purpose. Cyrus had left me for dead at the depths of a volcano. It is quite odd, this fixation with killing me with fire that my enemies seem to posses. But dear me," he said as the box glowed almost blindingly with a vibrant gold, "I do believe it is ready. And silly me, I have been monologueing."

Placing his fingers on the corners of the shining box, it suddenly collapsed and, once again, disappeared. Slade slowly looked up, causing Raven to shudder as she somehow sensed the sadistic grin growing underneath his mask.

"Now…it is time you finally die, oh Princess of Darkness, once and for all."

In the blink of an eye, Slade charged forward with what seemed like superhuman speed. Raven stumbled back and before she could cast any defense, Slade landed a hard right hook straight to the side of her head. Even though she had only flown a couple of feet and into the wall of the room, it felt like the hardest blow she had ever received in her life. Raven, who by now was nauseous and disoriented, swore under her breath as she slowly got back to her feet. Slade's fist seemed to vibrate with golden energy as he held it tight in the air.

"F-fine," said the Titan as she regained her composure, "You want to play rough?"

Black energy swarmed around her as she let go of her inhibitions. Sending a charged bolt of energy forward, Raven blasted Slade clear through the walls of the tower and out towards the open sea. Following quickly behind, she enveloped Slade in a dark cloud before sending him hurling into the water and straight into the earth.

"You think I've forgotten how you worked for my father?" she yelled above the crashing waves, "You think I don't remember all the terrible things you did to my friends? I've been waiting for this, Slade." Raven's eyes burned with crackling power as she floated above the waters.

Slowly, Slade rose from the sea as an aura of golden energy seemed to carry him upwards. "Dear Raven," he said as he became level with her shocked face, "I was counting on it."

Whipping his arm, Slade backhanded her fiercely. The blow echoed like a thunderclap loudly through the air as Raven flew like a black lightning bolt back into the Tower and crashed through several floors. Raven shot back up, gasping and short of breath. She had barely a second to bring up a shield before Slade had landed the massive attack. Instead of protecting her from the assault, it instead seemed to vanish when her enemy made contact. Raven barely had time to recreate it before impacting the walls of her home.

She took a deep breathe before shooting back up into the sky to meet him. She didn't know what was going on or what to expect further from Slade. All of this seemed completely new to her and disoriented Raven immensely. How is Slade suddenly able to fly? And how is he so strong? And why does every blow he manages to land seem to drain something from her? Raven pushed the worries aside as she focused her energy. Reaching deep within and finding her center, black magic rumbled around the fight as Raven lifted a giant piece of earth from the raging seas below her. She screamed as she flung it with all her might directly at her enemy.

Slade slowly moved into fighting position as the land mass flew towards him. Right as it was about to strike him, Slade flung his arms forward to block it, causing a blinding explosion to ripple through the air. Raven was thrown back from the force of the blast as dirt and rock whizzed dangerously past her head. When the dust cleared, there hovered Slade, his arms still right in front of him as a bright golden light radiated from his body. Raven stood on the ground at the base of Titan's Tower, dumbstruck.

With a bright yellow flash, Slade moved once again at supersonic speeds and engaged the shocked Raven. A blow to the stomach sent her reeling back, straight through the large double doors of the Tower and into the main foyer. As she hacked up blood, Slade landed a vicious uppercut that sent her straight up, through the couple dozen floors of the building, up through the training room, past her own bedroom, once again through the lounge, until she burst out of the roof. Slade's golden arm caught her in mid air by the throat and Raven could hardly struggle as blood tricked down her forehead and she fell unwillingly into the abyss of unconsciousness.

"And now, I will do what not even your all powerful father could accomplish." Slade's aura seemed to grow brighter and brighter as he spoke. His other hand curled hungrily as it began to reach towards her face. "You will be mine…"

Just then, a bright blue flash erupted from behind Slade, causing him to cry out in shock and let go of Raven who fell clumsily towards the earth. Green star bolts pelted him as he tried to regain his senses and he had barely enough time to dodge a freeze bomb that went whizzing past his head. The Teen Titans emerged from the hole from which Raven had exited. All three were covered in thick purple goo and none of them had the relaxed, calm, even sometimes jovial faces they usually brought to battle. The boy wonder caught Raven in his arms and held her close as he looked up at his mortal enemy. A stern look was plastered across Robin, Cyborg and Starfire's faces and each looked as if they were ready to kill.

"Stay away from our friend," said the trio, ominously.

Slade, visibly frustrated, simple mumbled something before disappearing in a flash of gold.

"Raven! Raven!" shouted Robin as he tried to revive her, "Raven! Are you ok??"

The girl in his arms moaned slightly as she came to and Robin's spiky haired visage slowly came into focus.

"R-Robin..?"

"Raven! I'm here. Everything's going to be ok. You're going to be al-"

She cut him off by passing out again, but not before weakly muttering, "I'm not talking to you…"

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"H-hello? Is anybody there?" Reven found herself slowly regaining consciousness, but not in the usual manner. She wasn't waking up but she no longer felt asleep. Instead, Raven found herself in a black void in which she could neither see nor feel anything. Her body no longer existed and only her corporeal conscience seemed to be floating in a sea of nothing.

"H-hello?" she said/thought again as she was faced with emptiness. "Is anybody there?"

"Raven? Is that you?" Out of nowhere, a flash of green could be seen…or felt close by. Raven's mind wandered, trying to find its source but unaccustomed to her environment, she had no idea how to locate it. She cried out desperately in reply but the green presence seemed to slowly fade.

"Raven? Is that you?" Suddenly, it reappeared, stronger than before and when she replied this time, the green aura remained.

"Hello? Who's there?"

"It's me…"

"Beast Boy?" Raven gasped…or at least she would have had she still had a body. "Are you ok?! I saw Adonis attack you on the monitors…"

"Yeah, I'm not sure…Where are we?"

"I don't know. What happened?"

"I don't know either. I remember…I remember fighting Adonis…and I remember getting my butt whooped. I wasn't…I couldn't…"

"…you couldn't change."

"Yeah…" he replied slowly. "What about you? Did anything happen to you?"

"Slade."

"Slade?!"

"Yeah. He got in the tower. He had that box and…I can't remember anything after that."

"Oh man…Raven?"

"Yes?"

"Are we dead?"

Raven imagined smacking Beast Boy on the head as he proposed the grim notion. Admittedly she had been thinking the same thing but Raven did not even want to entertain the thought. As she mentally smacked him, a large "OWE!" rippled around her.

"What was that?? Did you…did you just hit me?"

"…I guess we're not dead then."

"Ow…great way to find out…," Beast Boy grumbled, "ok, then where are we?"

"I don't know. I think it might be some kind of subconscious existence. I think this is my mind."

"You mean I'm in your head again?? Why would I be in your head?"

"I don't know." She internally sighed and as Raven thought these words to Beast Boy, she tried to remember exactly what had happened that night. Instead she was suddenly presented with vibrant images. She could see again! In a manner of speaking, anyway. There were large flashes that began blurry but seemed to slowly come into focus. It was her. Her past. Visions of Azarath passed by Raven. Her mother. Leaving home. Coming to Jump City. Meeting the Titans. Fighting Crime. Slade. Betrayal. When Terra appeared, the images suddenly became all the more intense. Raven could feel the anger she felt when Terra had betrayed them. Terra's death seemed to resonate around her. Birthday. Trigon. As she relived these horrible events, something bright seemed to illuminate at the corner of every sight. Strangely, just as they had progressively become in focus, the images began to become distorted again. As the seconds passed, the visions became more consistent and started to change less frequently. Finally it settled on the indistinguishable visage of a person dressed in dark colors.

"Who is that?"

Beast Boy's thoughts startled Raven and she internally jumped. "Y-you can see all this?? You can see my thoughts?!"

"I guess so. We're in YOUR head after all."

Suddenly, the white light that had been ebbing from the corners of consciousness flashed brightly and both young being were enveloped by the image. It was of a young boy wearing a black and white mask, smiling and staring right at them.

"Robin? Is that Robin?"

As a pleasant settling feeling that accompanied the thought of Robin invaded their senses, Raven screamed, "STOP IT. GET OUT OF MY HEAD. YOU HAVE NO RIGHT…"

"WHOA! Whoa! Raven! Chill out! I don't know what I'm doing here. I can't really close my eyes or anything, ya know."

Raven felt like crying but the absence of eyes made it difficult. She wanted Beast Boy out of her mind but unfortunately she had no control of what was going on. This kind of invasion of privacy was entirely unacceptable. The vision of Robin still remained, despite how much she tried to banish it. The euphoric feeling it brought with it normally would have calmed her nerves but in the presence of Beast Boy, it made her as physically sick as a disembodied consciousness could get.

"Robin? Why Robin?"

"It's nothing," she snapped back.

"These feelings…these are your feelings, aren't they?"

"Look, Robin and I share a bond, ok? I've been inside his head. It's…it's nothing."

"I've been inside _YOUR_ head, on more than one occasion I might add," he said, sounding unconvinced, "and you never talk about any bond between us. This is different. This is…this is how you feel about Robin, isn't it?"

"Shuttup."

"You love him, don't you Raven. You do! I can feel it!"

"I SAID, SHUTTUP! GO AWAY!" As she mentally screamed, Raven got her wish and the bright white image suddenly vanished and the two were once again left alone in a void-like darkness.

"Raven…"

"I don't want to talk about it. I just want to get out of here."

"Raven, if you truly love him, you gotta tell him." Beast Boy almost sounded remorseful but his voice rang with sincerity. "You have to…"

"I-I can't."

"I know it'll be hard with Star but…"

"I just can't!! Leave me alone!"

Beast Boy finally shut up and remained silent in his sea of thought. Truth be told, he didn't know how he felt about Raven and Robin together. The idea gave him mixed feelings to say the least, but there was something else that felt slightly awry about it. It probably has something to do with Robin already being with Starfire, he though. As Raven remained deathly silent, Beast Boy couldn't help but feel sorry for her. And suddenly…something else…

A flash of images once again filled the thoughts of the two Titans. Only this time, as the images became more and more vivid, it was clear this wasn't Raven's past they were watching. There was a scene with two normal looking parents. Africa. The agony of disease. Loss. Death. So much death. Loss. Over and over again. Parents. Death. Doom Patrol. Gone. Unlike Raven's memories, these seemed to spiral faster and faster in a torrent of discontent, fear and loathing. Raven witnessed them in shock as they accelerated around her. When they finally stopped she suddenly realized she could feel Beast Boy screaming.

"NOOO! STOP! STOP IT PLEASE! I DON'T WANT TO…I don't want to…don't make me see it again…"

Raven was left speechless.

"B-beast Boy…"

"Nngh…n-no…"

"Beast Boy…Beast Boy, listen to me!"

"R-raven…?"

"I'm sorry I screamed at you. I'm sorry, I had no idea that your parents…your…"

"Just make it…go away…"

"Garfield."

"…"

"I'm here."

Suddenly the dark and fuzzy image of something else appeared before them. It was hard to make out, but a darkly clad feminine shape could definitely be seen.

"Who is that?"

"I-I don't know…" replied Beast Boy, still clearly shaken from witnessing his entire past flash before him.

Instantly, it too vanished. In its stead, a bright blinding light could be seen coming from one spot in the endless void. Only, unlike the "light" from the other images, this one actually seemed to cause Raven to wince in physical pain, the first twinge she had had of her body since she had regained consciousness.

"What is it?"

"I-I don't know, but it's drawing me closer." The disembodied girl slowly started to move towards the light.

"Raven! Don't leave me!"

"I-I think I see Robin. Beast Boy, come with me!"

"I'm trying! I can't move!"

"Beast Boy!"

"Raven! Tell Robin it's ok! Tell him this wasn't his fault! And tell him you love him…" Raven could barely make out her friend's voice as the white light enveloped her and she suddenly left the black void.

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End Chapter 5

So…what'd you guys think? Sorry it took so long to put out, I have work every day from 8am-6pm and I'm usually pooped afterwards. To top it off, I've been feeling kind of sick lately.

Anywho, please review and all that jazz. It'd be much appreciated. This is where all the romance stuff really starts to heat up. I hope this chapter had enough action for all of you though. Catch ya later! Expect another chapter this weekend.


	7. Chapter 6: Morning, Sunshine

So, here's what happened. I wrote this chapter about a week ago and it turned out great. It was FABULOUS. Afterwards, me being the silly nut I am, I left my computer unattended while I went out. While I was painting the town red, my roommate waddled his way to my station and accidentally deleted the entire chapter…which I had forgotten to save…

D'OH!

Needless to say, I was pissed. I hate rewriting so it put me off of this story for a few days. But I'm back! And with a hopefully acceptable chapter. I should be back to my regular, once a night update schedule. Now, read on!

I don't own these characters.

Chapter 6: Morning, Sunshine

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Raven slowly crept farther and farther away from Beast Boy and his fading voice as the bright light before her began to come into focus. She could see the boy wonder's spiky haired visage and longed to break forth through the barrier of consciousness and back into the world. However, despite how much Raven yearned to once again return to her body, her mind seemed to continuously wander back to Beast Boy and the grievous history she had just witnessed. His memories had been painted with a palette she would have never imagined would be so dark. There had been love, yes, but amidst so much pain and loss and unmitigatable death. She too had a history full of grief and strife but the way she dealt with it was through isolation, meditation, and a loneliness that penetrated everything she seemed to do. Something about Beast Boy, the way he remained so impeccably joyful and the bounce that always seemed to follow his step, cut deep into Raven's mind and she could not rid her thoughts of the image of his smiling face. Regardless of how she had always reacted to his jovial attitude in the past, she now could not help but feel a sense of admiration at the way her green friend always kept his head held high.

The bright lights before her slowly intensified until Raven found herself at the edge of her own consciousness. Breaking through it felt like breaking through inches of glass as her physical eyes burst open and she found herself in her own body once more, gasping for air. Raven was covered in a thin film of sweat and her body ached in places she had never even known could feel so intensely. Catching her breathe, she looked around the room to see all the familiar faces. Robin sat at the edge of her bed with one calming hand on her knee, looking immensely relieved to see her up and awake. Starfire was as vibrant as usual and the smile on her face was as gladly welcomed as the hug she instantly pounced on Raven. Back, half hidden in the shadows, Raven could see Cyborg with a grin on his face that did little to belay the fatigue and worry that had clearly been afflicting him for some time now. He nodded and she returned the gesture, knowingly.

"Oh friend! It is glorious that you have returned to us!" Starfire nearly engulfed Raven in more hugs that did little to soothe her bruised body. "We have been worried for quite some time now. But we never lost hope."

"We never did," echoed Cyborg with a gratified smile. "Glad to have you back, Raven."

"Definitely," said Robin, enthused, "You've been out for awhile and we were starting to get really…worried…" His voice trailed off as Raven's gaze reached the opposite side of the room and remained there. In the next bed over lay a small green fox that was covered in bandages and breathing in slow, shallow gulps. The room grew deathly silent as everybody mimicked her stare.

"The little guy…" said Cyborg as he slowly walked over to Beast Boy's bedside, "he aint doin too great. Adonis messed him up pretty bad before we got to him. After Plasmus' chemical effects wore of, he's kept…changing every few hours or so. We…" Cyborg trailed off as his head fell to his shoulders.

"We think it's what's keeping him alive." Robin's expression had suddenly turned solemn. "Raven, I-"

"This is your fault!" she interrupted, startling everyone. "You wouldn't let me go. You wouldn't let me help him! It's because of you Beast Boy is…"

Robin slowly lowered his head, dejected.

"No, Raven," said Starfire calmly as she stepped forward and placed a reassuring hand on Robin's shoulder. "Robin is not to blame here. He…he did not know what would happen. He was only doing what he thought best." She looked over once more, sorrowfully at Beast Boy. "For all of us."

Robin finally looked up again and with a fierce look in his eyes said, "But she's right, Star. This **was** my fault. I should have known it was all a trap. I should have thought ahead. I-I'm sorry Raven." He looked directly into her eyes as he spoke. "It was my call and I blew it. For both of you."

Raven broke his gaze and looked away. It was all she could do to hide any hint of tears that she feared may show beneath her bitter exterior. Raven had shed tears in front of her teammates before but that wouldn't suffice now. She could not now. She was too angry. It seemed to burn inside her in a torrent of fire that slowly began to well up. She thought of the beating she had incurred and the shattered state of her friend. She thought of how much he must have suffered. But as thoughts of Beast Boy entered her head, she couldn't shake the image of him smiling. Teasing. Laughing. Breathing deeply, the thought soothed her and she remembered the words he had imparted upon her before she had left him alone.

"Robin…" she said meekly, "Starfire is right…actually. This wasn't your fault. It

wasn't anybody's fault. Beast Boy…he wanted me to tell you that."

"You spoke to him?" piqued Cyborg.

"Yes," she replied, "I mean…I think so. We were in some kind of altered state. Like limbo."

Starfire raised one eyebrow and with a perplexed look said, "Beast Boys is having the fun without us?"

"Different kind of limbo, Star," said Robin as he finally let loose a reluctant smile and reached his hand to his shoulder to give her fingers a gentle squeeze. She smiled back warmly and the tension in the room seemed to instantly disappear.

"So you actually talked to BB?" asked Cyborg as stepped forward into the light. "How is he?"

"Just the same old Beast Boy," said Raven with the hint of a grin, "I think he'll be ok." As she spoke, her eyes lingered back to the battered fox on the opposite bed. "At least, I hope so."

"I'm sure he will, now that you've left a trail for him to follow," said Robin with a smile as he slowly got up and started to walk towards the door. "Well I better go tell the others that you're back with us. Raven, could please meet me in my study when you're feeling better? There are some things I've been wanting to ask you."

"Others?"

"Yeah," said Cyborg as he seemed to immediately tense up, "Slade and his robots have been attacking the tower relentlessly since you've been out. You've been asleep for almost three and a half weeks. We had to call in a few reserve Titans to help out."

_Three weeks!_ Raven thought, _Great…more trouble at my expense._

"Who did you get?"

Cyborg suddenly tensed up even more and started to inch his way towards the door as he quickly mumbled, "Kid Flash and jinx…" Starfire giggled.

"Who?"

But Cyborg had already followed Robin's lead and was well out the door and down the hall as he yelled back a rushed, "Glad to have you back, Raven!" before disappearing around the corner. Raven gave Starfire a confused look as the alien continued to snigger. Finally, with a wide grin plastered on her face, she finally spoke.

"Robin says he thinks Cyborg may have…the crushes."

Raven's mouth bent into a minute smile before she lay back down and closed her eyes, exhausted from the whole ordeal of waking up.

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Cyborg hurriedly made his way back to his room as he shook off the feeling of embarrassment incurred every time someone mentioned Jinx's name. He didn't even know he still could blush as hard as he did beneath his metal exterior. To say the least, the last few weeks had been quite uncomfortable. Despite how much he hated the idea, he couldn't help admit how confusing the knots in his stomach were. But as the days went by, he had gotten more accustomed to shrugging off those excess emotions, as he did now while walking down one of the many halls of Titans Tower.

Traversing alone, Cyborg's thoughts went back once again to his green friend who was stationed in the med wing he had just left. Even though most of his systems had been offline during their fight a few weeks ago, Cyborg's human eye had been able to witness the entire beating up close. He had cried out bitterly inside his head with every blow Adonis landed on Beast Boy's defenseless body and cheered with inner vigor when the titan had managed to blind his enemy, permanently. It was shortly after Adonis was rendered sightless that Cyborg was finally able to reroute his energy supply and boot back up to full power. Though they had been able to stop the baddies, nightmares of Beast Boy's near death had been plaguing Cyborg on a nightly basis. He kept seeing his tiny body, bloody and beaten to shreds in his arms and the incumbent feeling of hopelessness soon followed him everywhere he went. Despite what his friend had told Raven, Cyborg could not help but feel like there was something more he could have done and that somehow, some way, he could have prevented all of this from happening. Few people realized how close they actually were and even now, as Cyborg came upon his bedroom door, his heart ached for the company of his best friend.

The mechanical titan was just about to grab the door knob when, suddenly, his sensitive ears picked up a distinct noise coming from inside the room. Freezing in place, Cyborg slowly and carefully leaned in to try to hear better when there it went again, only this time in the form of a distinctive snicker. He burst open the door, sonic canon engaged, only to find Jinx standing by his bed, holding a picture and with a deer in the headlights look painted on her face.

"Cool your jets," she said as she regained her composure, "I only wanted to see your room, Stone."

"I told you," said Cyborg as he disengaged his weapon and closed the door behind him, "my name isn't Stone anymore. It's-"

"I'll call you whatever I want," she said mischievously. "I can't believe you kept this." She held up the picture of her and Cyborg dancing at the H.I.V.E. Holiday Formal. Cyborg once again blushed a crimson red that he tried to hide from her smirking face.

"You know that was my first kiss that night?" she said.

"…really?"

"No!" she laughed, "but that look on your face was priceless. My first kiss was actually Seymour. Ick," she said as Cyborg made a face, "Exactly." He couldn't help relaxing a bit as she smiled almost playfully. He felt a mixture of anger, annoyance, and bemused enjoyment as he walked in closer to get a better look at the picture in question.

"Those were good days…" said Jinx as her eyes slightly glazed back into memory.

"No, they weren't." said Cyborg plainly, "You were evil back then. Plus you made me eat a unicycle. I pooped lug nuts for a week."

She laughed again, "Just because I was evil doesn't mean they weren't good times. And who's to say I'm not still a little evil on the inside?"

Cyborg eyed here cautiously. "So what _are_ you doing in here…?"

"Like I said, I just wanted a look around. You always seem to be avoiding me around the tower, I guess I didn't think I'd run into you here."

Cyborg furled his brow slightly. _I'm not avoiding you…_he thought. "Are you sure that's the only reason you're in here?"

Jinx looked up annoyed only to be met by his seriously glare. Scoffing, she put down the picture and said, "Fine, tough guy, if you must know I kind of wanted to get away from Wally."

"Kid Flash?" he replied, confused, "but I thought you two are doing great together."

"We are," she said as she leaned back against a table with her arms crossed, "That is…we were…it's just that things have been a little weird in the past few days. He's been acting odd…and I get the impression he's a bit slow."

"Aw, Wally's a bright kid. What're you talkin about?"

"No, screws for brains," Jinx replied, rolling her eyes, "I mean he hasn't been running as fast as he usually does. And I should know, I am his girlfriend."

"Hmmm." Cyborg rubbed his metallic chin in engrossing thought. "I really haven't noticed anything but I guess you'd know better than me. Maybe I should run some tests on him, see what's up."

Jinx looked at the floor nervously. "I guess," she said as she lightly kicked the floor, "I'm just…I don't know…thanks for listening Cyborg."

"Don't mention it!" he shot back with a nervous grin. The two continued to chat, the first real talk they had had since the two reserves moved in. The conversation moved on to other things, jokes, laughter, Raven's revival, but while they bantered on like old friends, Kid Flash stood outside the door with his head pressed against the cold steel, his fist clenched and his ears burning.

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End Chapter 6

Kind of a slower chapter, I know, but I liked what I did. This chapter was a set up to a lot of other stuff that'll be happening. Keep a close watch! I should be updating soon. Until then, please review! Please!


	8. Chapter 7: Afternoon Delight

I don't own TT. Sorry for the delay.

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Chapter 7: Afternoon Delight (A/N: this chapter header really has nothing to do with the story…I just felt like using it….pffft)

Raven slept peacefully for the rest of that day as her body continued to slowly recover from the beating she had received weeks before. She had fallen asleep to the image of Starfire and her cheery smile but awoke to nothing more then the beeping of nearby medical machinery. Raven lay in bed awake for a few minutes, her eyes still closed, as she thought about what to do now that she was once again among the land of the living. Slowly opening one eye, then the other, she turned her head slightly in bed to peer over at Beast Boy who was currently curled into a tight ball as an emerald green armadillo. Biting her lip in frustration, Raven slowly got out of bed, careful not to overextend any of her sore joints, and walked over to his bedside. Placing a finger or two on the hard, leathery exterior, she exhaled slowly before leaving his bed and walking out of the med wing.

The Tower was quiet. Judging by the fiery orange light that shot through several windows on her way to Robin's study, Raven figured the sun was setting and that it was probably almost nine in the afternoon. Finally finding her way to his door, she knocked hesitantly before walking in.

"Robin? Are you here?" The room was poorly lit on the east side of the Tower and at first, Raven didn't notice the couple entwined on the couch. They were lightly dozing, Starfire's head resting on Robin's rising and falling chest and his arms neatly wrapped around her back. Raven blushed crimson. She had never seen either of them look so peaceful. It was then as she was about to hurriedly turn back and exit when, with a small mutter, Robin awoke.

"Mmmph…oh, Raven."

"Sorry to wake you," she replied clumsily as she quickly made her way to the entrance.

"No, no, it's ok," he said, stopping her, "we just now nodded off. Star…you awake?"

The alien groaned as she slowly sat up and stretched, yawning like a big red headed cat.

"Evening, Raven," she mumbled as she smacked her lips.

Robin stood up, now apparently fully awake, "I'm glad you stopped by, there were a few questions I wanted to run by you about the night you were attacked."

"If you are not needing me," said Starfire as she too arose from the couch, "I think I will go feed Silkie and visit Beast Boy." Robin nodded and lightly kissed her on the cheek before she left the room.

"Well aren't you two the happy couple," said Raven with a curiously raised eyebrow.

"Heh, yeah," the boy wonder replied while rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "who'd of thought I'd ever be so lucky." Raven couldn't help grinning slightly at the most awkwardness she had ever seen Robin exhibit. Even though her heart was currently sending her befuddling messages, she was still glad that he was so happy.

"Anyways, like I said, I had some questions. What exactly happened the night Slade showed up? Our cameras got the fight on film but I just want to know what you remember."

Raven merely nodded in reply before sitting down in a nearby chair. Breathing in deeply, she retold the events of the night in question. Slade's entrance, the words he had said, the ensuing battle, all was conveyed to Robin to the best of her ability. After finishing, Robin remained silent for a moment as he rubbed his chin, engrossed in thought. Finally, he spoke.

"How did you survive?"

"Huh?" she said, startled.

"You said that every time Slade hit you, it felt like he was draining something out of you. Like he was weakening you. But those blows you took should have killed you outright. How did you manage to survive?"

Raven sat there in silence for a minute. The thought hadn't crossed her mind since she had woken up from her coma but Robin was right. She had been knocked straight through Titan's Tower and out the roof. She should never have been able to survive that.

"I…I don't know," she said, sounding puzzled, "I _think_ that whenever Slade hit me, it deactivated my powers but…at the same time it felt like it was drawing them to the surface. But you're right, I shouldn't have lived. I **should** have died. Instead…"

"Instead you went into a three week coma," Robin said as he finished her sentence. They once again sat in silence for a moment and pondered the situation. Raven frowned as she tried to remember exactly what it felt like. Getting hit by Slade was a horrible sensation. It was like falling and turning inside out at the same time. Nausea crept up on her just thinking about it. At last, Robin broke them from their contemplation.

"Raven. Can you tell me exactly what Metrion means?"

"But I already told-"

"No, you didn't." he said, interrupting her sharply. "You said they were related to meditation but not how."

Raven looked him in the eyes as she collected her thoughts. Their relevancy eluded her, but, if Robin thought they were important…

"Azarath is simply the name of my former home. Metrion means something along the lines of _strength from within_ or _inner self_. It's tied with the channeling of my soul self. Zinthos literally means _I call upon_. Loosely translated, the words form the mantra _I call upon Azarath to help me summon my inner strength._ English grammar is a little different from Azaran but you get the picture."

"And when you first started developing…your powers, were you able to conjure them up alone at first or did you need to learn to meditate?"

Raven slightly flinched. They were now treading on uncomfortable waters and Raven had never enjoyed relating anything about her past, especially her childhood. "When they first started surfacing…I couldn't control them. It was more like the power controlled me." She shuddered lightly as she recalled horrible memories of wonton destruction and the dozens maimed simply as a result of her careless dreaming. Things had been very different back then. "It took a long time and years of meditation for me to learn how to actually use them."

"I see…" replied Robin simply. "Sorry to bring up the past. I know you don't enjoy it but I think this might be connected somehow. I'll have look into it more closely though."

Raven got up, knowing this was her cue to rise and leave Robin to his consuming research. She nodded, knowingly before turning around to exit but suddenly stopped right in front of the door.

"Robin?" she said, facing him again.

"Mmm?"

"I just…I wanted to say thank you…for bringing me back."

"But I didn't do anything," he said with a surprised tone.

"It was your voice and your image that lured me back here. I just…thank you." And before she knew what she was doing, Raven walked forward and wrapped her arms around Robin in a tight hug. Shocked at first, Robin slowly returned the gesture.

"Uh…no problem," he said awkwardly.

_He's hugging back! _she thought.

Raven relished the moment as their bodies embraced before letting go and giving him a genuine smile. It looked like she was almost glowing, which positively freaked Robin out, though Raven seemed not to notice. He nodded, awkwardly, and Raven started taking steps towards the door.

_Do I love her?_

"What?" Raven said out loud, frozen in her tracks.

"Uh…I didn't say anything, Raven." Robin was confused about the situation enough as it is. He had hoped he could just brush the feelings off but, much to his dismay, she turned again and spoke.

"What did you say? Are you talking about Starfire?"

"I…I didn't say anything." Both teens look extremely puzzled as Raven raised one eyebrow high in confusion.

"I thought I heard…"

_But sometimes, I don't think she even likes me._

"Ok, tell me you heard that. You heard that, right?" Raven was starting to look scared as Robin shook her head and she looked feverishly around the room. She had heard the voice but Robin's lips had remained still. It was something else.

_Sometimes I think she might even hate me._

"What IS that?? **Who** is that??" As Raven scanned the room, Robin began to get a little afraid too. What in the world was she talking about?

_But that's not true. I know she cares. I know it's hard for her. But…but how do I feel?_

Raven clutched her ears in frustration as she went bug eyed. First, almost a month in a coma and now voices in her head? What was going on? It wasn't her inner selves; those thoughts could be distinguished easily. She also now realized that she couldn't audibly hear it but rather it was a voice that seemed to be emanating from somewhere internally. Was it coming from inside her? Or was it being channeled? Suddenly, Raven realized the completely freaked out look Robin was giving her. With a start, she straightened herself immediately and cleared her throat.

"Sorry. I guess it was nothing," she garbled before doing nothing short of running out the room.

"Oooook…," muttered Robin to the empty room. He shook his head a few times before slowly sitting in his desk chair and attempting to get back to work.

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Starfire lightly skipped as she made her way from Robin's study and back to her quarters. She found Silkie wiggling wildly on her bed like a stray grubvorn from one of Tamaran's moons. Laughing excitedly, she picked up the adorable larva and swung him around the room playfully a few times before finally settling down and giving him some food. Starfire had found that Silkie enjoyed the strangest of earth foods. Today her dinner consisted of old pickles, rotten blue berries, twelve Bertie Bott's "puke" flavored jelly beans and an old stank ball Cyborg and Beast Boy had discarded some time ago. Yum!

After burping him, she put her little bumgorf to sleep and once again, with a bounce in her step, made her way to the medical wing. Despite all the attacks that they had recently been experiencing, and even though she hated the idea of her friends being injured, Starfire's last month had still been quite memorable. She and Robin had been slowly growing closer and closer and everything was as grand with him as she could ever hope for them to be. Her only regret was that, due to recent events, the two hadn't been able to go to their scheduled rock concert. But, thought Starfire as she giggled madly, they had been able to make up for it in _other_ ways…

By the time she reached her destination, Starfire was floating several inches from the ground. She hummed lightly as she pressed the button and entered the room.

"Oh! Kid Flash! You have come to see our friend too!"

The speed demon had been leaning over Beast Boy and studying him intently when Starfire surprised him. He jumped, startled, before quickly reassuming a straight posture.

"Ah, oh, uh…Star…fire. Yeah, I just wanted to see how the green one was doing." Beast Boy breathed softly on the table, currently a muskrat. "He seems to be doing alright."

"Yes but we always fear the worst," she replied gravely as she floated closer to him. "I feel that it has been far too long since we have enjoyed his company."

"Mmm…"

Suddenly, the door burst open again as Cyborg and Jinx came rushing in. "What's up? What happened?"

"Huh?" questioned Starfire.

"Beast Boy! His vitals went spastic just a moment ago! I came as quickly as my sensors told me."

"And what are**you** doing here, Wally?" asked Jinx as she pointed an accusatory finger at Kid Flash, "I thought you told me you were going for a run. Plus, you've never come with me to see Beast Boy, not once."

"Well I guess I thought I was about due then, right?" he said with a wink. Both Cyborg and Jinx eyed him suspiciously. "I just got back and decided to check in before I went off to your room, babe."

The group responded with dead silence as Kid Flash looked nervously around from person to person. Only Starfire appeared to be extremely confused.

"Well…I guess I'll go wash up then. See you in a bit, Jinx." With that, he hurriedly made his way past the group and walked out the door. From the hallway, they heard him abruptly bump in to someone who faintly sounded like they were mumbling to themselves. Jinx gave Cyborg another confused glare.

"What?"

"Nothing…just that Wally doesn't ever sweat while running…"

She was interrupted as Raven hastily entered the room with a frazzled look on her face.

"What. What's everyone doing in here?" she asked the room.

"Uh," said Cyborg as he recovered from Kid Flash's awkward exit, "nothing. I saw BB's readings go crazy for a sec but he seems ok now."

Raven pushed her way past the three and made her way Beast Boy's bedside.

"Is something the matter, friend?" asked Starfire inquisitively.

"No…just…I could have sworn…I could feel that something was wrong and it…it felt like he was calling to me or something. I don't-"

_Raven…_

"Beast Boy?!"

The three other titans in the room looked at each other in confusion.

"Garfield, I'm here…"

"Ooook…," said Cyborg with the same detached tone Robin had used just moments before, "I think he'll be alright. BB needs his rest. C'mon, Raven."

"If it's ok with you," she replied as she waved away his comforting hand, "I think I'll stay here with him."

It took all three of them a moment to process the shocking amount of concern and affection Raven was displaying but after a minute or two, they all nodded to each other and slowly left the room. Cyborg lingered for a second at the doorway and looked back to see Raven sitting by Beast Boy's bedside with an intently concerned look washed on her face. Shaking his head in a confused grin, he dimmed the lights before slowly closing the door with a click.

End Chapter 7

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Another transition chapter! BOOOOOOOOOO!!! My my, I hope this isn't getting too boring. But Beast Boy will wake up soon and then more…exciting things will begin to happen. Please, for the love of Gorf, please review!! There are some stories on the Titans part of that are written horribly but have an enormous amount of reviews. Is my story just that boring or something? Please tell me, flames are completely welcome.

Next chappy will be out soon. Until then, keep a look out for a oneshot I'm writing. Ciao!


	9. Chapter 8: The Prodigal Returns

Yay, update time! Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing, your opinions are much appreciated. The more I write this story, the more ideas I have popping up. I don't see this ending anytime soon. Expect anywhere between 20-25 chapters by its end. That's a good thing, right? My question to you, the reader, is whether I should split it in the middle somewhere and just publish the second part as a sequel story. Or do you prefer just reading it all in here? Anyhow, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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Chapter 8: The Prodigal Returns

_Raven…_

_What._

_Raven…_

_What?_

_Raven!_

_What? WHAT, WHAT, WHAT?_

_Why are you dressed like a clown?_

_Ugh…_

Raven hesitated to look down, knowing full well what was waiting for her. Above her head shone bright steaming lights that illuminated her as if she were on center stage. Looking around she saw a dusty dirt floor and a mesh net hanging a couple dozen stories above her head. Large red columns supported the blue and orange tent she found herself in and when she took a step to walk, a squeak exuded from her foot. Still grimacing, she lowered her head to see oversized cherry red shoes and an enormous set of red suspendered yellow trousers with big, bright blotches of purple polka-dots. To top it off she wore a sleeveless button up tuxedo vest with a stop light green bow tie, and on her hands were gigantic white gloves. She shuddered at the thought of what most likely covered her usually stone grey face. Sighing audibly, Raven turned her head to see Beast Boy, currently in the form of an oversized green lion. He was standing on top of a red pedestal with an enormous toothy grin.

_**WHY**__ are you dreaming about a circus?_

The lion shrugged in reply, still smiling wide.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Behold! The king of the jungle! And his humble jester!" A large belied half robot, half man ring master cracked his whip in the air as a crowd suddenly appeared in front of Raven; they clapped madly as Cyborg rallied them into a fervor. Above them, a young boy wearing a black mask was swinging on the trapeze. He swung back and forth for a minute while slowly gaining momentum and, with what looked like hardly an effort, let go and flew several feet in the air. He tumbled multiple times, all to the crowd's awe, and looked as if he may drop at the last moment, only to be caught by a dazzling red head in a matching uniform.

_C'mon Raven. You gotta admit, this is pretty funny._ Raven simply replied with her stereotypical deadpan glare in an attempt to shut Beast Boy up, but this only caused the lion to roar with laughter. Raven grumbled loudly and looked like she was just about to speak when a jet of water suddenly hit her in the face.

"Dance! DANCE!!" A miniature blood-red four eyed demon pranced around Raven while holding a small seltzer spray bottle.

_Ok…that's it. I've had-_

"Aw, is the king's clown upset?" asked the Cyborg ring master.

_I AM NOT A CLOWN. _With that, she ripped off her clothes, her shoes, her make up, everything, in order to expose her traditional blue robe underneath. Literally grabbing the scenery with her bare hands, Raven continued by ripping the circus in half and throwing it away into who knows where. Panting with anger, it was now just her and Beast Boy, who was once again in his classic doom patrol uniform, and a blank white world.

_Aw…why'd you have to do that? I was starting to like that one. Did you see Aqualad in the stands selling peanuts?_

_BEAST BOY! This has to stop! I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't live like this. _

_Whoa, calm down Yelly McYellingface, what are you talking about?_

_And that too! How come you never ever remember anything? Every time I come back, you're just as uninformed and ignorant as before. _

_Come back from where?_

Raven sat down in the middle of space and collapsed her head into her hands.

_Beast Boy, I am stuck in your dreams, _She said in a monotone, bored voice,_ You got hurt, badly. You're still asleep and every time I fall unconscious, I find myself in your dreams. And when I'm awake, I can hear your voice muttering random things in my head._ Raven finally looked up to see Beast Boy sitting patiently cross legged in front of her. He had a worried look on his face. _You have to wake up,_ she said,_ this __**has**__ to stop_.

_I guess you're just the girl of my dreams then, heh heh_. But Beast Boy stopped laughing when the blue haired girl before him groaned loudly. This was the 12th time she had heard that joke.

Raven lowered her head again in frustration. The two remained in silence for quite some time before Beast Boy slowly reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. There was a stern and serious look on his face as he gently squeezed her shoulder. The girl had barely time to raise her brow before he said the words she knew were inevitable.

_Raven…I'm going to save you._

_Wait…what, not again…what does that mean?! _But before Beast Boy had time to answer, there was a rushing sound and a slight click before Raven suddenly found herself awake and once again with her head on Beast Boy's bedside. For an entire week this had been going on. No matter where she went, no matter where she slept, she could still hear his voice say her name and she still found herself in Beast Boy's most lucid of dreams. And every night, for the past week, Raven had woken up to those words echoing in her sleep deprived head.

_Why couldn't he dream about a library_ _or a hammock shop?_ she thought to herself as she slowly and groggily got up. She saw the green iguana peacefully sleeping in bed and rolled her eyes. Raven groaned when she turned and saw the med wing clock read 5:25 pm. After stretching her arms and cracking her back, she lethargically made her way out of the room.

_Well, at least there's tea. Thank God for tea…_

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Elsewhere in the Tower, Robin pored furiously over charts and tables, books and graphs alike. The elusion of Cyrus' true identity seemed to rage like a storm cloud over the boy wonder's head. Slade's secret identity was something Robin had been forced to learn to slowly ease up on and even though he had never stopped looking, his ignorance in the matter was something he was more willing to accept. Cyrus on the other hand proved to be quite different. Not only was he a more recent threat with absolutely no recognizable background, but Robin believed he posed an immediate danger, somehow, on the life of his team's empath. It was no surprise that in the past week he had gotten just as little sleep as Raven had, perhaps even less.

On the far end of the room, the door slowly and silently opened as a sleek figure slipped through the frame. It stuck to the shallows and slowly crept, step by step, towards Robin as he seemed to type away, seemingly unaware of the hands that stretched out behind him in anticipation. There was no noise, not even a shallow breathe, but before the alien could pounce, Robin suddenly spoke aloud.

"Not now, Starfire."

She nearly fell over in surprise.

"How do you DO that?"

There was no reply.

"If not now, then when? Even you need to rest sometimes, Robin."

Again the only sound that penetrated the air was silence.

"You have barely spoken a word to me in the past week. You have been locked up in this room for what seems like forever since Raven awoke, and it has been most…er…a nerve wreck for all of us. I know this is important but-"

"Star," he said quietly without even bothering to turn around, "this is more than important. The more clues I learn about this Metrion, the more I realize how big this is. I need to catch Cyrus and Slade"

"No. **We** need to catch them. We are a team, are we not?"

Robin, once again, made no reply. At times like this, he felt that keeping his mouth shut was most likely the best course of action. He didn't want to offend Starfire with any arbitrary abrasive statements and hoped it would convince her to leave him alone for the time being. Unfortunately for him, his girlfriend saw it instead as a blatant form of negligence and, after an awkward minute, unexpectedly turned Robin around in his chair.

"Fine. What? What?"

"Why do you push yourself this way?" she asked as he folded his arms and looked impatiently to the side, "Why do you push your teammates away? We are your friends, we are here to aid you in your struggles, yet you always choose to face them alone."

"Star…" he said uneasily. "This is who I am. You should know that by now. It's how I work."

"But it is not how **I** work," Starfire replied as she slowly put a fist to her chest. "On Earth, our relationship symbolizes a partnership, does it not? Then why does it feel like you are always running away?"

Robin's only reply was a large sigh. He tried opening his mouth but no words came out. He didn't know how to explain. He didn't know how to say that she would just get in the way…that they all would just get in the way. Every time he fell into this kind of situation, Robin felt the need, the overwhelming requisite that he decipher whatever mysteries befell his team. It was his job. He had to prove that he could do it, if not for them or himself, then perhaps for someone in his past. A vision of bats fluttered before him as Starfire continued to speak.

"I know you are concerned for Raven and Beast Boy and I am as well. Raven has not been…herself lately. I have tried to talk to her but she continues to hide what is truly bothering her."

"Look, Starfire," said Robin as he finally looked up and into her eyes, "Raven and I are a lot alike. These…voices she is hearing, these dreams with Beast Boy, they're all related to what went on with Slade, I know it. That's why I have to figure this out as soon as possible. The best thing you could do for Raven is give her some space. She needs to sort some of these things out by herself, like she always does. And you're going to have to start learning that it's the same way with me. I love you but I'm going to need some space as well, at least for a little while." With those words, Robin reached out to stroke Starfire's shoulder but, much to his shock, she recoiled instantly as if his fingers were made of hot glowing embers. Starfire took a step back and, much to Robin's surprise, she looked furious.

"Space, space, space," she said with burning acid in her voice, "You say you love me but you are constantly talking about this space. We have a word for what you are describing on Tamaran. On Earth, it would be called fear."

With those words smoldering in Robin's ears, Starfire stormed out of the room. The boy got up to run after her but after a moment of consideration, simply crashed back into his chair. From out in the hallway, an invisible shadow heard his loud bitter sigh.

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"I'm sorry Jinx, but I got nothing for you."

Cyborg and the pink haired girl were sitting alone at a small table in one of the empty spare bedrooms. The curtains were down and the door was locked.

"I've been monitoring ol' quick foot during our combat training session and while he _has_ been going abnormally slow, for him that is, everything else checks out fine. As far as I can tell, that's the same Kid Flash we've always known."

Jinx exhaled loudly as she slumped in her chair. After taking a moment to contemplate, she finally looked up at Cyborg with a forced smile.

"Thank you so much for doing this and for not telling anybody. I know it seems weird, having you spy on my boyfriend, but things have just been getting stranger and stranger lately. He's been avoiding me and he's always so hard to find around the tower. He won't talk to me anymore and I don't know what's up. I just have this…bad feeling, and I know something about bad feelings."

Cyborg nodded as she spoke. "I know what you're talking about. I have noticed that he's been avoiding you and he has seemed like he's been on edge lately. But Kid Flash has never shown any sign of being a bad dude."

"'Cept when he started dating me…" said Jinx with a sly smile. Cyborg grinned.

"Well we all make mistakes." The two chuckled lightly. "But in all honesty, are you sure you don't want to talk to Robin about this?"

"No," she said flatly, "we both know he's got enough on his plate right now-"

"Yeah…spiky haired freak is gonna kill himself one of these days…," muttered Cyborg under his breath."

"-plus I don't really know if there's any problem. For all I know this is just me being paranoid." The large boy in front of her simply laughed as he shook his head. "In any case, Cyborg, thank you again for helping me."

As Jinx placed a pale hand on top of his large prosthetic one, Cyborg tried with all his might to hide the blush that spread like a ripple across his face.

"Oh-haha, it's nothing. You know I'm always here for you if you need me. What are friends for, right?"

"Right…" she replied coyly, "_friends_…"

Just as Cyborg was about to open his mouth to speak, a large beeping sounded from his arm and interrupted the pair. When he saw what was flashing from the screen, Cyborg's eyes opened wide in shock.

"BB?!" He jumped from his chair and quickly grabbed Jinx's arm before racing out of the room. "C'mon! Hurry!"

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Raven was meditating when she felt the sharp pull on the corner of her mind. She had retreated to her room in an attempt to calm the torrent of emotions she was feeling but to no avail. Her impatience with Beast Boy was quickly coming to a head with her concerns and, despite how much she cared (also much to her annoyance), she didn't know how much longer she could take his incessant prattle in her head. As soon as she had gotten her heart, mind and soul all in check with one another, there again did his voice ring like a bell within her head.

_Raven._

She sighed internally. _Beast Boy, not now. Please, I beg you, just leave me alone. I need some peace or I'm going to explode._

_Raven?_

_Stop. Not. Now._

She exhaled deeply as the calm of her room enveloped her. A few moments passed without another thought rummaging through her head and Raven slowly closed her eyes while the hint of smile inched at the edge of her mouth. _Good_, she thought, _He finally listens._

Minutes passed without anything else to disturb her peaceful meditation. Raven calmly floated a foot or so in the air with her legs crossed as her chants brought her chi to perfect equilibrium. More minutes passed. Her mind was empty and her soul at peace. Her emotions were calmed and everything was safe.

_Safe_.

_Safe_.

Abruptly, a flinch caused her to loose her graceful balance and her smile turned into a frown. Gathering herself again, Raven tried once more to undergo catharsis but after a moment or two, flinched once more. Now her brow furrowed in frustration as she breathed deeply.

_What is wrong with me today? Ugh._

She tried to regain her composure but failed even sooner this time. She slowly descended from her levitation and sat neatly on the ground.

_What is going on? I finally get Beast Boy to shut up and…_

But that was exactly it. Beast Boy **never** shut up. He had never simply walked away from her without a fight. It was then that Raven knew something was wrong. Her mind tried to focus but all that was coming up was a disturbing blank space and a void that had nothing to do with clearing her mind. Her eyes suddenly shot wide open and she immediately got up. Walking swiftly, she exited her room and made her way to the med wing.

Before she even got to the door, Raven could hear Cyborg's excited "BOO-YAH!" echo loudly down the hall. He was happy? Was Beast Boy finally awake? Were her trials finally over? Could Raven finally sleep without having to endure first hand the workings of the boy's disturbing subconscious? As she rounded the corner and enter the room, her heart skipped a beat in anticipation.

The door swung open and before her were all of Raven's teammates. They were crowded around the bed and their backs blocked her view. Cyborg especially towered over everybody and she could see he was fiddling with something on his arm. Jinx was to his right, leaning over, and Kid Flash was behind her with his arms crossed. He was the first to notice Raven and from the worried look on his face, she knew something was awry. Robin stood in the corner by himself with a mixed expression simultaneously displaying both relief and worry. Starfire was at the other side of the room and she seemed to be jumping for joy, perhaps even more exuberantly than was normal even for her. Starfire's head seemed to be darting back and forth between what was on the bed and the detached Robin across from her. Raven stepped closer to get a look at the patient on the bed.

"But why are you still…" Cyborg trailed off as she got near.

"Ahem." Raven cleared her throat and everybody looked up to see her concerned face. Cyborg grinned widely as he stepped aside and Starfire flew over the bed to embrace her.

"Friend! Isn't it glorious that our companion Beast Boy has returned to us?"

But as Starfire relinquished her bear hug, Raven saw that something was indeed wrong with the situation. There was no green boy laying on the bed but rather a small green kitten that was calmly cleaning itself. It seemed to be ignoring everyone but as Raven approached, the small green head suddenly shot up. Its eyes went wide and, to everyone's surprise, it leapt into the pale girl's arms with a loud mew.

_Raven!_

"Beast Boy??" she said aloud as the cat purred in her hands.

_I'm back! Aren't you glad that I'm back? _

"Oh no…no, no, no, no, no." Raven's words rang throughout the room and everyone stared at her curiously. It seemed like she was getting a lot of those looks lately.

_What's wrong? Oh wait, hold on…_

The kitten jumped out of her arms and back on the bed without a sound. Raven saw Beast Boy close his eyes momentarily before turning into an fish…a lizard…a chicken…an aardvark…a monkey…and once more into a cat. The puzzled look on his cute face, in any other situation, would have been hilarious but Raven just looked on in horror.

_I can't…that's weird. I can't turn into a human._

"Yo, BB, what's up dude? Stop foolin around, man, we got a lot to talk about." But the small mammal simply looked up at Cyborg with a concerned expression. He tried again but with the same results. Badger…duck…fly…mouse…rhino…the bed suddenly crashed and broke under his weight. Beast Boy quickly turned back into a cat.

_Oops. That's…funny._

_Why. Why can I still hear you in my head?!_

_Huh? You can hear what I'm saying?_ _I can hear what you're thinking! Whoa, cool! _The cat looked inquisitively up at Raven who seemed to be positively fuming with anger.

"I can't believe this," she said as her face went blank. Without another word, she stormed out of the room. The small kitten leapt from the bed wreckage and quickly followed.

_Raven! Wait up!_

"…"

The other Titans stood in the room in silence while exchanging incredibly confused looks. Finally, Starfire broke the awkward quiet.

"Excuse me but…was that **normal**?"

Everybody slowly shook their head.

"What just happened?" asked Robin to the room.

Cyborg gave a perplexed chuckle and said, "Man, I was hoping you could tell me."

End Chapter 8

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So…what'd you think? This is where stuff starts getting really interesting. The whole "beast boy stuck as an animal and can only talk to Raven" thing was actually my original idea for this story. It kind of spiraled into something bigger though. The next two chapters or so are going to deal with how the two cope with one another in this awkward situation. Also, what's up with kid flash? And jinx? Rob and Star's relationship will also be further discussed. Next chap should be up by the end of the weekend. Well, stay tuned, and until next time! Ciao! Please Review! (flames welcome)


	10. Chapter 9: Recalling Revelations

Well, here's the next chapter! Thank you again to everyone who as reviewed, it's a pleasure to see your comments. This chapter was originally twice as long but I decided to break it up in the middle. The second half should be up by either Monday or Tuesday of this week. Hope you enjoy this one!

I do not own TT

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Chapter 9: Recalling Revelations

Much to his dismay, Beast Boy once again found himself lying on a cot in the infirmary as his friends buzzed worriedly around him. He had chased Raven down the corridors to her room but she had promptly locked herself in, and no amount of clawing at the door seemed to sway her to do otherwise. Finally, her voice screaming "GO AWAY" followed by loud explosion echoing from the room convinced Beast Boy to tuck his tail between his legs and mope back to Robin, Starfire and Cyborg. The other two reserve Titans, Jinx and Kid Flash, quietly left the room when he returned, but not before giving him a reassuring pat on the head. Presently, Beast Boy lay on a bed with his green fuzzy cat head resting between his paws while looking contemplatively at the others. Cyborg was to his right and running several tests while Starfire paced slowly in the air. She shot him a concerned look every so often and bit her lip as she continued to circle. Robin seemed to be brooding in the corner, and though he did look worried for his friend, Beast Boy could tell something else was bothering him. After thinking about it for a moment, Beast Boy got back up to have another go at reassuming human form. His meow caught Starfire's attention and she watched with disappointment as a menagerie of animals appeared over and over on the bedspread as he morphed from one shape to another. But, like before, this only yielded fruitless results. Eventually, after being exhausted by the effort, he conceded back to a feline form and awaited his test results.

"Well, you check out fine," said Cyborg as he walked up to the bed with a clipboard in hand, "Diagnostics say that you're more or less fully recovered and I can't find any anomalies present in your body."

"Mew."

"What that means is that there isn't anything wrong with your genetic code. In fact, after closer examination, I can see that the human genome is still present in your system."

"Mew. Meow, mew hissssssssss."

Cyborg placed the clipboard down with a frown. "What I'm trying to say is that there's nothing wrong with you. Theoretically, you should be able to become human again."

"Then why can't he?" said Robin, startling everyone. He got up from his seat and walked over to see the test results for himself. "There's gotta be something wrong with him."

"That's the thing," explained Cyborg, "There really isn't. I'm not sure but it may just be mental, like an internal block or something. The little guy did undergo quite a bit of trauma…"

Beast Boy's head shot straight up in bed. Changing quickly in size, the green cat suddenly became a green chimpanzee. The ape screeched loudly at the two confused Titans while make some complex hand gesture. The bed rattled as Beast Boy shook back and forth.

"Look, man," said Cyborg, "calm down. I don't – I don't know what that means, BB." He motioned to his hand gestures with a quizzical look on his face. The green primate lowered its arms in defeat and the changeling morphed once again into a dejected kitten. Starfire slowly floated down and gingerly picked up the cat in her arms.

"Oh…Beast Boy. What is the matter with you?" She held the kitten in front of her face as she puckered her brow. "Why can you not return to us? We miss you so." The kitten purred loudly in reply which was followed with a loud mew. It was Beast Boy's way of trying to tell them that things would be ok, but Starfire merely placed the kitten back down while petting him softly.

"Well," said Robin as he stepped forward to face the cat, "you should probably take it easy for another day or two. But after that, do you think you can return to active duty?" Cyborg immediately shot him a glare while Starfire gasped aloud.

"No!" exclaimed Starfire as she continued to pet Beast Boy, "You cannot expect him to go to battle in such conditions."

Robin's voice was surprisingly stiff as he spoke. "If Slade or Cyrus attacks again, he'll have to."

The cat suddenly morphed into a small monkey and gave the team leader a quick salute.

"If you insist, Beast Boy, I guess there is no use arguing." The monkey gave her a high five but that did little to deter her worried face.

"Well, I'm going to go. Glad to have you back, Beast Boy." Robin let out a faint smile as the animal on the table gave him a sharp nod and a thumbs-up. "You'll know where to look if you want to find me." He passed Starfire without looking at her and left the room.

As Robin left, Cyborg sat down on the table next to his friend. Despite the unusual complications, it was plain to see that he was extremely relieved to have Beast Boy up and running again. "We missed ya man." The monkey jumped once and pounded Cyborg's fist with his own. Finally, there were no more comatose patients and the Titans were whole again. Mostly, anyhow.

"So…" said Cyborg as he rubbed the green head in front of him, "what's up with you and Raven?"

Beast Boy raised his arms in the air and shrugged. When he opened his mouth, a small screech exuded that sounded an awful lot like "Iono." Starfire giggled.

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As soon as she was sure that Beast Boy was no longer pawing at her door and had receded down the hallway, Raven turned her back to the door and slid to the floor while a loud exhale wheezed from her lungs. She shut her eyes and rested her head on her knees while contemplating the day's events.

"Ugh…"

The room was a mess. She had exploded most of the western side of the room and as a result, books, charms, totems and other miscellaneous trinkets lay mish mashed on the floor. Some were still in tact but most were either missing pages, broken in half, or completely shattered. Raven tried to will herself get up a few times in an attempt to reassume meditation but failed miserably. Instead, she settled for finally opening her eyes and surveying the wreckage. At her feet lay a small vanity mirror, the very same that her two friends had traversed into more than a year ago. She peeped over the top of her knees and saw that her hair was in no better shape than her room.

_God help me…What am I going to do? He'll still be able to access my thoughts and, knowing him, he'll be poking in and out constantly. I'm going to be the only person he can talk to so he'll be demanding my attention once he gets bored with the others and I'll have absolutely no privacy. On top of it all, my emotions are on the fritz and everybody is radiating their own feeling so much, it's overwhelming. Robin is obsessively worried, Starfire is depressed, Cyborg is nervous, Kid Flash is scared and Beast Boy, like always, is exceedingly happy. The only collected one among them in Jinx, which is a little surprising. What is __**wrong**__ with everyone? I'm gone for a month and everything goes crazy and aaaaugh! This room is such a MESS!!_

A flash of dark energy accompanied the exclamation of that lost thought and, without warning, there was another loud bang as her bed exploded sheets and comforters everywhere. With a large groan, Raven blew a strand of hair out from the front of her face.

Today was not a good day.

_Maybe some ME time will help. _

Picking up the mirror, Raven was thankful it hadn't shattered (she shuddered as she remembered the last time _that_ had happened see the Titans GO! comic book for the reference). After a second or two of looking into the reflection of her deep cerulean eyes, there was a loud whoosh and a gust of red smoke before the girl disappeared into the depths of her own mind.

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Once Cyborg gave him the all go, Beast Boy hurriedly left the med wing. Hospitals always gave him the chills and while the Tower's med wing was a lot more accommodating and familiar, the idea of staying in there any longer just made him uncomfortable. He screeched at Cyborg in the hallways while making some complex motions with his hands that he hoped conveyed the message that he'd see him in the lounge later. The Titan merely replied with a bemused laugh and a slow wave before they parted ways. The green chimpanzee made his way halfway down one of the long passageways before morphing back into a kitten. For some reason, this felt the most comfortable for Beast Boy and he nimbly made his way to the one thing he presently had his mind set one: a grilled tofu dog and a large caesar salad. The cat licked its lips in anticipation.

Unfortunately, as he rounded a familiar corner, a loud obtrusive thought blared in his head, causing him to screech loudly in reply.

_WHAT IS__** WRONG**__ WITH EVERYONE?!_

"SCRAAW!" said Beast Boy in shock. _What in the hell. What in the name of tofu was that? Almost sounded like-_

_This room is such a MESS!!_ The loud noise that followed and echoed in the hall was this time not made from Beast Boy's screeching but rather came in the form of a loud resounding boom.

_Yup, that's gotta be Raven. Wow, she must be pretty ticked off. _The cat cautiously made its way towards the kitchen. This path was the fastest route but it also unfortunately entailed passing by Raven's room on the way.

_I wonder what's got her so riled up. Heh, knowing my luck it's probably me. But I didn't even __**do**__ anything. All I did was wake up and she ran like hell. I've been in a coma for almost a month and a half. It's not like she's had to deal with me at all during that time. The least she could have done was say, 'hey Beast Boy, I missed you, glad you're back.' I mean, come on, that's the least of common courtesies. But noooo, me and my ugly mug show up and she slams the door in my face. That's the kind of reception she gives me? Who the hell does she think she is? She's suddenly too good to talk to me or something? I mean she's psychic, she's the __**only**__ person I can talk to right now. And she can't even give me a crummy old howdy do? You know what…I ought to give her a piece of my mind! I…I think I will! And this time, she won't be able to tune me out!_

By now the green kitten was in a fit of rage and snarled adorably as it came upon Raven's door. He mewed and scratched at the bottom for a second before stopping and thinking, "_Man, screw this,_" and morphed into an ape. He banged on the door loudly.

Silence.

He banged another time.

Nothing.

_Urrgh…what is she doing? I know she's in there._

The ape pounded his fist again, but this time the door fell over with a loud crash. Beast Boy stood in the doorway with a look akin to one being caught with their pants down. It wasn't like this was the first time this had happened but, with a grimace, he remembered that all those other times never ended very well with him either. Luckily, he noticed, there didn't seem to be anyone in the dark room. Instead he found the tenement to be a complete and utter mess with torn books and furniture tossed everywhere. The sheets were scattered around the room and it seemed like no shelf or cabinet had remained unturned. Beast Boy morphed into a small monkey and uneasily stepped into the room.

_What…happened? Did Raven get attacked?_

No, he concluded. There was no real sign of struggle, just a giant mess. In fact, the image looked almost exactly identical to when he had pulled a prank on Raven last Halloween. Raven apparently did "do" holidays but that didn't ever seem to stop Beast Boy from trying. That year he had snuck into her room when she had gone out reluctantly with Starfire in search of a Halloween costume and had attempted to give Raven's room the spooky haunted look (it wasn't hard) in celebratory surprise.

-

-

-

"Man, Beast Boy, I really _don't_ think you should be doing this. Remember what happened last time you went into Raven's room?"

"Yeah," said Beast Boy as he tried to hang some fake bats from the ceiling, "I got to know her better. Maybe it'll happen again." He laughed quietly while balancing on the top-this is not a step-rung of the ladder. "I dunno, I just want her to open up for once. Get her to cut loose and maybe even get into the holiday spirit for a change." He looked over his shoulder from the ladder and gave Cyborg a sneaky grin.

"I'm tellin you, the only thing she's going to open for you is a can of whoop-ass."

Beast Boy slowly stepped down the ladder and turned around. "Look, we've grown a lot as a team over this past year. Raven and I are totally cool now. Even if she does get mad, which I'm totally expecting, I doubt it'll be that bad. We're her friends. How mad could she get?"

Cyborg just stared at him blankly for a second before replying, "How mad could she get? You're seriously asking…how mad…could _Raven_ get…before pulling a prank-"

"This isn't a prank."

"-well she's going to take it like one!" He shook his arms in frustration.

"C'mon, Cy, Raven likes her room being spooky." As he spoke, Beast Boy walked over to a large box of decorations he had placed on Raven's bed. "I'll even bet you ten bucks at Arcade World she _likes_ the decorations I put up and _thanks me_ for em. Whattaya say?" He pulled out some rubber glow in the dark skeletons and chuckled to himself before turning back around to face his friend.

"Cy?" But the doorway was empty and Cyborg was nowhere in sight. Shrugging it off, Beast Boy got back to work.

"Pfft. Whatever"

About fifteen minutes later, he had managed to get all the skeletons up as well as quite a bit fake cobwebs up in the corners. It was almost too easy. The room seemed to be half decorated already. He was just about to put up some black veils on the ceiling when he suddenly felt the temperature drop all around him.

"What…are…you doing…in my room."

Beast Boy's hands immediately dropped the fabric back into the box. With a look of sheer terror on his face, he slowly turned around to match the voice with the face he knew all too well.

"I repeat. What are you doing in **my** room." Raven's silhouette could be seen in the door way and, even though her cowl was down, Beast Boy could swear he could feel her large, livid eyes piercing a hole straight through his head.

"Uh…surprise?"

She slowly walked into her room and dropped her bag. Once again, she repeated her previous statement, only this time Beast Boy could see the shock and all consuming anger present in her stare.

"What. The. Hell. Are **you**. Doing in **my** room."

"So…did you find anything good for Starfire?"

Raven took three quick steps forward towards him and Beast Boy swore he shat his kidneys. A lump started forming in his throat as Raven raised one slow, shaking finger up to his face and spoke.

"Just answer my question, Beast Boy."

"A-All I wanted to do was do you a favor. Y-Ya know, get you into the h-halloween spirit?"

"This? This was a FAVOR?" With those words, the skeletons on the wall suddenly exploded, sending pale green plastic everywhere. Beast Boy flinched terribly as he cowered under her furiously glowing eyes.

"Chill out Raven, I was just-"

"I ask very little of you, Beast Boy," she said, interrupting him, "I put up with your stupid jokes, your constant pestering, the way you go out of your way to irritate me, and all I ask in return is that you leave me alone when I'm meditating and that you STAY OUT OF **MY ROOM!!**" Raven's voice had slowly began to elevate as she spoke until she ended the sentence in an outright scream. This seemed to snap Beast Boy from he terrified state and, as if having just been splashed in the face with cold water, shot immediately straight back up.

"I TRY to do something NICE for you and-"

"THIS IS NOT NICE. THIS is you NOT staying OUT of **MY ROOM**." Books literally exploded behind her and various utensils, pots and potions flew out of their respective cupboards and came crashing loudly on the floor.

"What, so you can HIDE in it all the time?" shouted back Beast Boy as he stepped aggressively forward to confront her, unfazed by the destruction.

"What is WRONG with you? Do you not remember what happened LAST time you came barging in my room? How you almost got yourself KILLED?"

"Yeah, and if you haven't NOTICED, I haven't touched any of your spooky stuff. Your creepy vanity mirror is still over there by your creepy desk full of death and HORROR. Or are you too busy blowing up your own room to notice that I didn't lay a FINGER on anything??"

"That's not the point!" she screamed, waving her arms, "Why can't you just do what I ask? One simple, tiny thing, that you stay OUT of my room. Why? WHY CAN'T YOU LISTEN?"

"And WHY can't YOU understand that all I have for you are the BEST of intentions? All I wanted to do was something nice for you, something that might make you come out and join me during a holiday instead of holing up in this room like you ALWAYS do. Even if it was just to get back at ME. What, is it just too much HAPPY for lil' miss goth girl?? I mean, what the hell do you THINK I wanted? For you to come in here and BLOW EVERYTHING UP?" Suddenly, the large box full of assorted decorations behind Beast Boy erupted in an explosion of plastic, cardboard, and orange and black confetti. Instead of looking back at the mess behind him, Beast Boy took another step forward and continued shouting.

"This is EXACTLY what I'm talking about Raven. I know you have trouble controlling your emotions but maybe if you let them OUT once in awhile you'd get used to them instead of bottling them up and exploding everything the second you're uncomfortable. I've been in there, I've MET your emotions, and HELLOOOO, in case you didn't notice, they WANT OUT." As he spoke, several land mines seemed to go off all around Beast Boy. The bed behind him flipped over, the statues and artifacts mounted on the walls splintered and burst and page after page of uncountable books seemed to swarm around the room in a tornado of black fury. But regardless, Beast Boy continued to speak.

"See?" he said as he waved to the chaos around him, "see what happens when you push everyone away? See what happens when you push your team away? It's not your emotions that make you loose control, it's all YOU. It's YOU pretending like you don't even HAVE emotions. You think those parts of you wont fight back? Just LOOK AROUND you, Raven. Then what happens? Look at **me**, look at all of your teammates. We're HERE for you. We-"

"Get out." The flurry of black wind and energy suddenly died down and everything that had been dangerously flying around the room fell with a loud thud. The sudden sound of silence finally snapped Beast Boy from his rant and he was, uncharacteristically, at a loss for words.

"Please…get out."

The shadow of her cowl seemed to cover everything. He could no longer see her eyes. He could no longer see her face. He could barely hear her voice.

"Raven, I-"

"Beast Boy." She looked up and met his eyes. For the first time in his life, the changeling could see tears clouding her vision. "Please. Get out.

Without another word, the green Titan slowly made his way through the wreckage and out the half blocked doorway. Outside, the other three members of the team stood in the hallway with terrified looks on their faces.

"What the hell happened??" asked Robin.

Starfire gently touched Beast Boy's shoulder. "Is our friend Raven alright?"

"B, you still alive, bro?"

Beast Boy froze in the hallways and spoke quickly before walking on out of sight.

"…no Cy. Not really."

Cyborg was the only one brave enough to chance a last peak into Raven's room before running away to catch up to Beast Boy. All he could see of her in the dim light was a curled body sitting on the wreckage of what was once her bed with nothing but the well known mystic mirror in her hand, glimmering the hallways light faintly back at him.

-

-

- 

Beast Boy sighed loudly as he recalled those sordid events that did transpire less than half a year ago. He had run away for awhile and avoided everyone in the Tower while the rest of the Titans dealt with the enormous amount of debris and trash left in Raven's room. Once that was done, both he and Raven had locked themselves away in their own quarters for quite some time, only coming out when missions required their attention. It wasn't until Cyborg and Starfire each convinced their respective best friends to finally come out and talk, some two or three weeks later, that they were forced into a confrontation. Surprisingly, it had been easy for them to make up. Both were quick to apologize and, at Beast Boy's suggestion, they had taken a long walk in the park to sort things out. It had been a hot night. Beast Boy smiled as he remembered buying Raven shaved ice during their stroll. As they discussed what had happened, it became more and more evident that something had to change and that there was something wrong between them. Their fight had been somewhat of a purge for both of them and strangely, after their talk, their friendship only grew to improve afterwards. Beast Boy seemed to have gotten better at recognizing Raven's quirks and Raven was slowly becoming more accustomed at seeing the genuine concern and friendly intentions Beast Boy employed in his antics, though this didn't mean they annoyed her any less. Now, standing in front of the destroyed room that look all too familiar, Beast Boy felt a wave of shame for having forgotten everything about that fight how far the two had come since then.

After morphing into a smaller chimp, Beast Boy quietly made his way into the room. Raven was no longer there but he was determined to wait until she came back. Until then, he thought as he flipped on the lights, the least he could do was help clean up the room. He had been in there several times since the aforementioned fight and though he knew she still wouldn't be comfortable with him being in there without her, he hopped she would understand. After sprinting to the kitchen to microwave up a tofu dog, Beast Boy slowly combed through the room, picking up scraps of books and splinters and placing them in large plastic bags as the night loomed on. It was difficult, his hands while great for climbing did not feel as nimbly suited for a prolonged session of garbage retrieval as his humans hands did. Still, he made some good headway and by around midnight, he had finished all but the few scraps left by the doorway. When he looked at the clock, he made a small yelp in shock.

_Midnight already? But where's Raven?_

Frowning a sordid ape-frown, Beast Boy continued to clean the small remaining mess. When he came to the door, he jumped in surprise. Just at the top of where the door had fallen lay the mirror he had once traveled into before. Much to Beast Boy's relief, the door had barely missed it.

_What do I do with it? I can't just leave it on the floor…what if somebody else comes in and looks at it? But if I get too close to it, I'll get sucked into Raven's mind and she'll kill me for sure. _

After silently deliberating for a couple minutes, Beast Boy finally came to a conclusion.

_Well…I guess I should probably move it, especially if I want to get out of this room. I might accidentally look into it while passing by or while fixing the door._

Taking the necessary precautions, Beast Boy went to the far side of the room and turned into the eight armed giant octopus. Turning away so as to not unintentionally catch a glimpse of the mirror, one of his tentacles reached out across the floor and delicately took a hold of the handle.

_Yes! Got it._

He had just about returned it back to its spot on the dresser when abruptly Beast Boy felt a familiar icy cold touch on his outstretched limb.

_Oh wait…oh crap! Let go of the mirror, let it go!_

But it was too late. A large red arm sprung from its reflective face and wrapped tightly around Beast Boy's body. With a muffled gurgling yelp, the green octopus found itself being pulled forcefully through a portal and into Raven's mind. The mirror fell with a clatter the floor as the rest of the Tower slept peacefully into the night.

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End Chapter 9

Boo for predictable endings. Still, I felt I had to do it. The whole "Raven's separate emotions" thing is way overdone but I must confess, that is exactly what the next chapter is going to be. Hopefully my take on it will be unique. And if it isn't, hopefully you'll like it anyways. Until then, PLEASE REVIEW, all opinions are welcome.


	11. Chapter 10: Dare to Be…AKA the Cliché

I'm too tired to say anything other than I don't own TT.

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Chapter 10: Dare to Be…(AKA the Cliché Chapter)

The swirling red vortex of doom sent Beast Boy spinning round and round for what seemed like forever. He landed dizzy and nauseous with a dull THUD on the hard dirt floor below as the portal closed behind him.

"Oh, man, I do not want another ride on that train, ever again."

Still clutching both sides of his spinning head, Beast Boy slowly got to his feet and surveyed the scene. Aside from being completely disoriented, the landscape looked more or less identical to how it was during his last visit to Raven's mind. There were several large floating platforms made of levitating earth, and the sky was nothing more than a bleak mix of red and black. There were some dead, fetid trees lining the road every hundred meters or so but that was about it. Luckily, there were no evil four eyed crows in sight and Beast Boy sighed in relief. That was when he noticed his body.

"Look at me!" he exclaimed as he jumped in the air, "I'm me again! Ooh yeah! Go Beast Boy! Look who's human! Ooh, ah! Lookin good, man!" His wiry body made pose after pose as he admired his much missed human form. He even had on his old doom patrol costume, much to Beast Boy's delight. As he danced, he couldn't help but laugh a little at how well his black and purple colors matched with the dreary palette of the world around him and how ridiculous doing cartwheels in Raven's mind would look had anyone been watching. Finishing his strut, Beast Boy finally calmed down to face the dilemma before him.

"Enough of that. Now…where to…?" There were several paths he could take but, unsurprisingly, none of them looked at all familiar. To his left there was a straight, long road that vanished behind a thick fog while to his right was a rocky decline obstructed with boulders and stones of varying sizes. An eerie red light seemed to glow ominously in the distance as the path fell further and further. Behind him were steps that seemed to go straight into the air and in front of him lay a path of floating rocks, each a jump's length apart, stretching on far into the distance. Thinking quietly to himself, Beast Boy contemplated his options.

_Well…I don't really feel like jumping or climbing stairs…and I'd bet my Punisher War Journal #1 that going down into the fiery depths of Raven's mind is a __**bad**__ idea. I really don't like the look of that red light. I guess that only leaves me…the easy route! Score one for Beast Boy!_

Hopping lightly, he turned sharply to his right and began walking confidently down the lifeless dirt lane as kept his head up and alert, maintaining a constant vigil in case any of those pesky birds showed up. The road was a dark one, with a musky fog that seemed to penetrate everything around him. It wasn't long until he was groping around with arms outstretched and barely any visibility all.

"Gah…stupid fog," he said to no one in particular. _Man…how am I going to get out of here? Last time, Cyborg and I needed Raven to get out…but there doesn't seem to be any bits of her anywhere! Hmm…maybe if I can somehow get her attention…"_

By now the fog had gotten so thick it was hard for Beast Boy to even make out his own hands. Figuring it was now or never, he paused, cupped his hands to his face, and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"RAVEEEEEEEEEEEEN!!"

His voice echoed far off into the distance as Beast Boy stood waiting for a reply. After a minute or two, nothing but silence remained and the changeling dropped his arms in defeat.

_Nuts…now what? Maybe that red light wasn't such a bad idea after all…guess there's nowhere else to go but forward. But is it possible that this fog is getting __**thicker**__? Just my luck…I can't believe-whoa. Whoa!"_

Just then, the ground shook violently beneath him and suddenly the solid earth didn't feel so solid anymore. Beast Boy tried to desperately keep his balance but in vain. He dropped to his knees to keep from falling over and rolling off the path but to his horror found that the floor was slowly breaking up underneath him. He screamed loudly and before he knew what was happening, Beast Boy was plummeting straight into the dark and eerie abyss below. His arms flailed wildly and he was sure that this would be his untimely end when, miraculously, a hand reached out from nowhere and grabbed Beast Boy by the elbow. Looking up in surprise, he saw a calm and cheery face dressed in a light baby blue.

"Raven!!"

"Hey…uh…Beast Boy? Right, right…what's up?"

"Uh…not me. Could you let me down, please?"

"Sure thing!" Suddenly, her fingers let go of his arm and Beast Boy found himself once again falling to his doom.

"AAAAAAAAH!!!"

As he fell, the temperature seemed to drop lower and lower and he had barely enough time to change into screeching falcon before being enveloped by the pitch black below. Quickly flying up as fast as possible, he reentered the fog and looked around. After circling for a bit, he finally found what he was searching for: a light blue blotch barely visible in the distance. Landing gracefully, he changed back into a human next to Raven who seemed utterly confused.

"Hey! What's the big idea??"

"Huh?" she said, looking at him quizzically, "You _said_ let me down. What'd you think I'd do?"

"Hmm, oh, I don't know, maybe NOT drop me into the bottomless pit?"

Raven put her hands on her hips and pouted. "Well maybe you should be clearer next time…uh…umm…gah, I know it starts with a B…"

"Beast Boy…?" he said, looking at her with wide eyes.

"Yeah! That's right. I remembered it then, I don't know why I forgot it now."

"Is **that** who you are? Forgetful?"

"No…no, I don't think so," Raven said as she scratched her chin contemplatively, "I think I'm a bit…uh…oh yeah, I'm just Stupid!"

"Stupid? You're Stupid?" said Beast Boy with a dumbfounded look. "Great…just great," he mumbled, "the one part of Raven that I come across…and I didn't even know Raven HAD a stupid side…"

"Oh," she laughed in reply, "I'm not sure if she does either. She forgets about me a lot it seems, though I'm sure it's just an honest mistake. I haven't been out in YEARS so I'm probably due for a surfacing sometime soon."

"Wow." Beast Boy couldn't help but crack his mouth open in a wide smile. "You really are stupid."

"Thank you! Ha-ha, I think I like you, BB!"

"Great," he said with a chuckle, "Raven's stupid side likes me. Figures." She just beamed back at him with a sheepish grin. "So…where are we?"

"My domain! At least…I think it's my domain," muttered Raven apprehensively.

"Well, do you know the way to any of the other Ravens? I'm, uh, kind of trying to find my way out of here."

"Other Ravens?" she replied perplexed.

"Oh…right," he sighed, "never mind."

"Oh! Other Ravens!" she said, jumping in the air, "Yeah yeah, I know who you're talking about. Brave and Timid flew by like, forever ago. Said there was some kind of meeting. I guess it was a private meeting cuz I never got an invite."

"Yeah, I wonder why," said Beast Boy sardonically.

"Mmm…I dunno." Raven replied as she took him quite literally, "Your guess is as good as mine. So…you know a way out of here?"

"No clue," he said as waved his arms around in the fog, trying to clear some space in front of him, "I was hoping you could tell me."

"Oh, who knows. I didn't even know you _could_ get out Nevermore. It's all news to me."

Beast Boy let out a large, boisterous groan. Somehow he knew it wouldn't be the last one of the night.

"Ok…ok let's take this one step at a time."

Raven nodded eagerly with a big smile.

"Do you know where the other Ravens are?"

She shook her head.

"Do you know why the rest of Raven's emotions are gathering?"

"Nope!"

"Do you know how to get to another area besides…" he waved his arms around and gestured to the encompassing fog around them, "…this?"

"Uh…" she said, thinking for a second, "I think so. Follow me!"

But before she could take two steps in, Beast Boy lunged out and grabbed her arm. "Wait! Are you sure? I mean, I don't want to go down the wrong lane and end up seeing Raven's inner version of her dad again or anything."

"Oh, Trigon? Puh-lease, I'm not scared of him."

Beast Boy rolled his eyes, not that Raven noticed.

"Besides, I TOLD you, I'm not Forgetful, she lives all the way past Slovenly on the other side of the realm. Though we are pretty good friends. In fact, I think she was supposed to come and visit awhile ago…I wonder what could have happened…"

"Ahem!"

"Oh yeah! Onward!"

Without another sentence, the two began marching deeper and deeper into the fog. Despite the confidence she seemed to radiate, Beast Boy was still a bit uneasy with the idea of following the stupid side of Raven in hopes of finding an exit. But, unfortunately for him, there seemed to be little choice in the matter. In fact, he thought, if what Raven was saying was true, then he was lucky to have come this way. All the other emotion domains would probably be empty right now. Why were they having a meeting? Was the whole-Raven around here somewhere? He _had_ seen the mirror thrown vicariously on the floor. These thoughts seemed to swim around in his head as he kept close to baby-blue Raven's back. Minutes passed…then more…and then even more, until finally Beast Boy was sure they had been wandering for at least an hour. Unable to take it any longer, his hand shot out and tapped the shoulder in front of him.

"Uh…Raven. Are you _sure_ you know where you're going?"

She slowly came to a halt and turned her head inch by inch over her shoulder. Despite the fog, Beast Boy could clearly see the uneasy nervous look on her face.

"Uh…yeeeeah…? I mean, no, I mean…I think so? I'm sure it's this way." She pointed off weakly to her left. "Did I mention that Forgetful and I are good friends?"

"Alright, that's it." He reached forward, grabbed Raven's hand, and began marching in the opposite direction.

"Ow. Beast Boy, where are you going, I thought I told you-"

"I know," he said as he looked over his shoulder with a grin, "just trust me. This is classic cartoon logic we're using here. No way can we fail."

"Ok…," she said nervously. Beast Boy let go of her hand and they continued walking at a brisk pace. It wasn't long before they noticed the change.

"See? The fog's even starting to get thinner. What'd I tell you."

"Um, I guess you were right…or something. Though I'm not really sure what you-"

"Shhh!"

Beast Boy stopped in his tracks, causing Raven to clumsily walk into him.

"Oops," she said with a small laugh as he looked back at her.

"Quiet. Can you hear that?"

Raven looked around her, trying to pick up on whatever Beast Boy was hearing.

"I don't-"

"It's this way," he said as he pointed to the direction they had been heading. "These bad boy's aren't just for my ravishing good looks, ya know." Beast Boy winked as his ears gave a noticeable twitch. Without another word, he started to slowly creep forward and Raven followed quickly behind him. They had only gone a couple dozen yards when Raven picked up on it too. There were voices!

"…but she does have a good point, it's not like he asked for any of this. We must not forget that we are not the only once with…us."

"Oh please, can it, Wisdom. You're starting to sound like Compassion and we've heard quite a bit from her tonight already."

"Why don't we just tell him to NOT bother us, that it's not a good time."

"But you girls never think it's a good time…"

"That's not the point, Compassion. Besides, if we get that out of the way, maybe we'd have the nerve to go head to head with Starfire. I've been aching to get my claws on that Robin for a long time. Rawr."

"Brave, we just now got off the topic of Robin and I had hoped we could perhaps progress to other pressing matters. You and Love are a haughty, foolish mix. I suggest you dissuade her from whispering her hypnosis into your ears ever again."

"I thought I told you to shut-UP, Wisdom."

"And I thought I informed you that you are about as civilized as our father."

"Hey! Enough of that. **I** am in charge her, I control all of you and don't forget it. Rude, please keep it to yourself, at least for a little while, and Wisdom, you should know better than to bring up my father in a meeting of my emotions."

"I apologize."

"Ok then, now…"

By this time, Beast Boy and Stupid Raven had made their way out of the quickly thinning fog and had come upon the large, dense brush that surrounded the gathering of Raven's myriad of emotions. A large black bonfire blazed at the center of the processions and Ravens of every color sat around it. Floating above them with her back to Beast Boy and Stupid sat Raven, the whole Raven in her tradition dark blue garb. Stupid nearly ran called out at the sight of her and would have done so had not Beast Boy immediately covered up her mouth and pulled her behind a decrepit looking tree. There were several colors that Beast Boy recognized immediately. Brave was in her predictable green, Love was purple, Rude was orange, Wisdom, a banana yellow, Timid, tucked away in the back in her usual stone grey, Anger, a flaming red, Slovenly was a slightly rotten brown, and Happy was in a loud, hot pink. Still, that was barely half of the entire assembly. Beast Boy shook his head, unable to believe that Raven had so many emotions and sides to her.

"…lets continue in an orderly manner. Timid, you had something to say?"

"Oh…n-no…I changed my mind…"

"C'mon Timid. Out with it. We're all willing to listen."

Rude made a loud snort but the rest of the Ravens didn't seem to notice.

"W-well…I was just thinking…I like Brave's idea of talking to him…but not to say to leave us alone. Just…talk. A lot of us like it when he does that. B-but…he probably wouldn't want to anyways…"

"Beast Boy's not all that bad-"

The Titan in question wiggled his ears at the sound of his name

_So they ARE talking about me…_

"In fact, he's been more or less tolerable for some time now."

"I've quite enjoyed working with him…"

"Yes, Love, we know full well-"

_Love? Raven uses Love when she's around me??_

"-but I would rather that not cloud our judgment. I vote that we give him a chance to prove himself. He has not intruded on our privacy since our fight last Halloween-"

_Uh oh…_

"And I believe that he is mature enough to handle the situation. You can say what you want, but I do believe it to be sensible that we trust him. He has gone through enough trauma as it is. We've all seen it, his past that is, and I doubt this recent beating and inability to reassume his human state has helped at all. He also seems to care deeply for Raven. I highly doubt that he would intentionally do anything to upset us."

_**Uh-oh.**_

"So…what you're saying, Wisdom, is that the best thing we could do right now is be his friend."

"Yes, Compassion, that is exactly what I am saying."

"Well **I** aint. All Beast Boy has ever done is annoy me. He brings out Anger more than any of the other Titans. And you honestly believe that's not going to be the case here, especially if he can listen to our thoughts? Going into dreams with him was bad enough but I thought even YOU, Wisdom, would have the sense to know when to say enough is enough. Don't the rest of you agree?"

"Personally," said the only Raven dressed in a deep gold, "I don't think the majority of us really care what happens."

"Oh screw off, Apathy."

"Meh. Whatever…"

"Stop." Love stepped forward in an attempt to get a hold of the discussion. "Fear and I both agree that the prospect of having him constantly pester us would be far preferable to never speaking with him again." The black Raven in the far off corner gave the crowd a meek nod. "We don't want to risk pushing him any farther than we already have. We even made a resolution not to since the last time we met after the Halloween incident. I suggest we keep it. And no matter how much you and Anger feel like you can control the rest of us, I assure you that we are far past the days when we would bend to your petty intimidation. Wisdom, as always, has the most thought out, logical solution. We should vote."

"Ok then," said the whole Raven as she stood and levitated even higher above the black flames. Though she had been silent the whole discussion, it was plain to see that the meeting in its entirety was in her complete control. Every Raven eye rose to look up to her as she spoke. "Let's settle this with a vote. All opposed?"

The black bonfire seemed to explode and, were it not for the fact that he was biting his lip, Beast Boy would have yelled out in surprise. The flames shot straight up, licking the sky madly, until finally settling down to its former height.

"All in favor?"

Though he tried to prepare himself for what would be coming next, the magnitude of the eruption still caught Beast Boy plainly off guard. Black flames seemed to shoot out in every direction, covering everything with an ice cold blanket that sent shivers down Beast Boy's spine. The pillar of fire became a sky of black flame as each emotion cast their vote. Just when Beast Boy thought he would freeze to death, it was over just as suddenly as it had began.

'Then it is settled. We will give Beast Boy the benefit of the doubt. I sincerely hope I don't regret this."

The majority of the emotions below her clapped and cried out in excitement. It wasn't often that Raven allowed all her emotions make an important decision for her and with the advent of this recent verdict, most of them hoped Beast Boy would persuade her to do so more often.

"Well then. I guess that concludes-"

"WAH-HOO!! YIPEEE!"

_Oh __**shit**_

In his attempt to protect himself from the outburst of flames, Beast Boy had let go of the light blue Raven and she had promptly ran forward towards the circle of emotions.

"Yay! I totally agree with talking more to Beast Boy. That guy rocks!"

_Ugh_, thought Beast Boy as he slapped himself in the face, _goddamn Stupid…_

Rude looked dumbstruck. "_You_? What the hell are YOU doing here? Who invited **your** dumb ass?"

"Oh, no one," she said with a grin, "I just came with Beast Boy. Beast Boy! Oh, now where did he go…?" The changeling in questions was presently hiding desperately under a couple of branches, hoping with all his might that the crowd of Ravens wouldn't notice the small green ant that was trying to bury itself

"Beast Boy?!" Raven quickly flew down from her position in the sky and deftly landed next to Stupid on the ground. "Beast Boy is here?"

"Yup!" she replied, "At least he was…somewhere over there."

Raven followed Stupid's outstretched finger to the bits of shrubbery on the ground. Focusing her mind, Raven closed her eyes to try to find him, which took barely a second. The next thing Beast Boy knew, he was being pulled from his hiding spot and towards a furious Raven. Had anyone cared to notice, Anger was standing in the back behind the crowd, eagerly licking her lips while her four red eyes burned crimson in the dark.

"You should know better than to try to hide in my own mind," said Raven as she forced Beast Boy back into human form with a quick wave of her hand. "Just like you should know very well to STAY **OUT OF IT**." Beast Boy cowered as she towered over him. "Exactly WHAT were you doing in my room, my _private_ room, that led you to this **unfortunate** predicament? Beast Boy?"

He slowly got up from the fetal position he had been sporting on the ground and, after brushing off his pants, shakily replied. "I…uh…look, first off, this was an accident. You should know that. I would never…"

Raven's glare merely intensified.

"Ok. Uh…just…I came to talk to you. I swear. All I wanted to do was talk…and the mirror, it was on the floor by the door and just…I…I'm sorry…?"

Much to Beast Boy's surprise and relief, Raven's eyes stopped glowing their ominous electric black and with a deep breath, she seemed to calm down. Far off in the back, Anger silently kicked the air as if she had been unfairly cheated.

"…"

"I swear! The mirror was just on the ground. I tried to move it so no one would accidentally look into it but I somehow became its unlucky victim."

"How much of my conversation did you hear?"

"N-not much. We just got here, honest!"

"That's not true!" proclaimed Stupid eagerly from behind Raven, "We've been hiding back there for awhile. We heard the whoooooooooole thing."

"**Beast Boy**…" Raven dangerously raised her voice.

"No! Look! Um…Raven, seriously, I'm sorry! Sorry! I would have said something but I was just…I was so scared you'd get angry and blow me up and stuff. It was all just an accident, I promise! I didn't want to interrupt and I didn't know where to go! I was with _her_ after all." Beast Boy pointed an accusing finger at Stupid who was currently giggling like a little school girl.

"Well…," she said after a moment's pause, "I do remember leaving the mirror there. Perhaps I won't kill you…yet."

_Was that a joke? Oh man, Raven NEVER jokes. She's totally going to kill me. She's going to kill me and it's going to hurt and I'm not going to like it AAAAAH!_

Raven sighed as she saw Beast Boy was still utterly terrified. _As he should be_, she silently told herself. With another deep breath, she cleared her mind and spoke once more. "Ok then. We got to get you out of here. Now. Everyone else, you're dismissed back to your domains. Wisdom, can you take care of Stupid?"

"I will try."

"Are we going for a ride?"

"Come along dear…"

With that, the rest of the multicolored Ravens departed, flying away in all directions. Soon, they had all disappeared over the horizon and out of sight, leaving a very scared Beast Boy alone with the true Raven.

_Oh my god…she sent them away so they wouldn't be able to stop her…I am so dead._

Raven's eyes were closed. It took her a good few minutes but the urge to yell and scream and shout slowly passed as she found her center and let go of her anger. Love had been right. Though Anger and Rude seemed to be the loudest of her emotions, they weren't the strongest. Beast Boy had just been at the wrong place at the wrong time and lucky for him, Raven had just gotten done dealing with her plethora of feelings. In some strange way, she was proud of the fact that she had controlled her temper and would have revealed a small smile were it not buried under her stone grey mask.

"…ready to go?" Raven extended a hand to Beast Boy who eyed it wearily.

"So…you're _not_ going to kill me?"

"Like I said, not today."

"Really?"

"Just take the hand already."

Beast Boy cautiously raised his hand and put in hers. With a familiar whoosh, the two Titans were teleported far to the other side of the realm. The black shadow that covered him split in two and Beast Boy found himself before the much welcomed exit he had been searching for most of the night.

"Oh dude, FINALLY."

"I concur. Come on, let's get out of here."

With the wave of her hand, the doors opened and the fiery red portal lay before them. Walking side by side, the two Titans exited.

At that moment, the mirror in Raven's room began to shake as a large vortex erupted out of it. What normally would have been a graceful exit turned into muffled yelps and screams. Though he had left her mind as a human, Beast Boy came out of the mirror just as he had entered: a giant octopus. There was a squeal and an awkward squishing sound as the two landed on the bedroom floor.

"What the…AUGH! Beast Boy…let go of me."

_I'm trying! I didn't expect to come out with so many arms!_

"No, really. You have to get off of me. **Now.**"

_I told you, I'm trying. Why are you being so…oh…oh crap! AAAH!_

Beast Boy just then noticed what his tentacles had been wrapped around. Quickly letting go of her upper torso, he tossed Raven onto her bed with a tiny "OOF!" before morphing back into a small cat.

"Thanks…"

_Uh…don't mention it._

"Are you still stuck in…who cleaned my room?" Raven sat up and slid off of her bed as she surveyed the scene. Everything save for the fallen door, which she did not remember breaking, seemed to have been picked up and swept.

_Oh, heh, yeah, that was me_. The cat slowly walked up to Raven and jumped lightly on her bed. _Sorry about that…_

"No, it's ok. But I thought you told me you never came into my room…?"

_Ah-ah, I never said any such thing. But I was being honest when I said it was all an accident. I did come to talk to you, but what I saw what a mess the room was…I dunno, I just felt like I should clean it. I thought you were mad at me…_

"I was. Well…not really. It was more a matter of me being mad at myself."

_I put everything in those bags over there_, he thought to her as he gestured to the corner_, in case there was anything in the wreckage you wanted to save._

"Um…yeah. I guess so." Raven was still at a loss for words. She wasn't entirely sure whether she should be angry or grateful. "In any case, it's pretty late," the clock read 3:35 AM, "we should both probably get to bed."

_Heh. Yeah, I guess so. Um…good night Raven_. The kitten quickly jumped down from the bed and started walking towards the door. But halfway there, Beast Boy suddenly stopped, paused, and turned around.

"What."

_I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I've been a burden lately. I had no idea I had been causing you so much trouble. And sorry for intruding on your space again. I…really should have known better._

Raven though for a long moment. So long in fact that Beast Boy had just begun to turn around to leave when she spoke. "No, it's not your fault. You were in a coma…it's not like you had any control. And I know using the mirror was an accident. You're not that dumb."

The cat mewed in reply and with a happy kitty smile, the green kitten turned to leave.

"Oh, and Beast Boy?" He stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Thank you for cleaning my room. It was very sweet of you."

_No problem, Raven._

With a hop, Beast Boy quickly left the room. He was down the hall, bouncing all over the place, while thinking in glee, _She thinks I'm sweet! Awesome! WHOO!!_ Raven, having easily picked it up his thoughts from her room, suppressed a small giggle before catching herself smiling. With a groan, she started to get ready for bed.

-

-

-

The sea breeze was nice and sweet as Raven found herself sitting on the edge of a wooden fence, the ocean before here and her beautiful summer cottage behind her as she watched the stars die and the sun inch up. She swung her legs back and forth in the air, so happy, so jubilant just to be alive. The only thing that could make it better…

…were the arms she felt slowly encircling her waste, as if on cue. Goose bumps rose on her arms and legs as the man behind her kissed lightly around her neck and whispered softly into her ear.

"God, I love you."

She reached out behind her head to stroke his head which now sat comfortably on the crook of her neck.

"Did Dick and Kori finally decide to join us for dinner tonight?"

"Yup. Victor too, though he said he might be late. I got Melvin to watch the kids."

"Hah. Kind of ironic, don't you think?"

"I suppose," but his sentence was cut off as he snuggled in closer. Raven held his arms tight as the sun burst over the horizon and birthed another new, eventful day. Turning around, she slowly embraced her husband and, after a slow, lingering kiss, fell lightly into his arms.

"Oh…and I love you too, Gar."

-

-

-

"**AAAAAAAHHHH!!!"**

Raven shot up immediately in bed, breathing loudly. Her eyes were wide open and she looked frantically about the room for a clock.

5:55 AM

"What the HELL was that??"

Several doors down the hallways, Beast Boy shot up immediately at that exact same moment. He too was wide eyed, only as a mongoose. He looked around in shock for a second, drinking in the silence of the still-quiet morning. After another moment or two he finally collapsed on the bed. Had he still been a human, he would have been laughing hysterically.

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There we go. More hijinks to ensue. Keep a look out, though an update probably wont happen for another few days. Until then, REVIEW. REVIEW LIKE YOU'VE NEVER-ah, you get the message.


	12. Chapter 11: I Like Evenings Better

Here it is, complete and fresh off the computer. Hope you enjoy! This chapter has been quite a long time coming. Again, I apologize for that. There has just been one too many things going on in my life. But enough with that, on to the fic!

Author's note: do you ever work intently on a chapter and plow through it until you're sure it's perfect only to reread it the next day to discover, to you unmitigated horror, that you're a crappy writer and that you made silly mistakes? Happens to me all the freaking time. I edited a few segments of this chapter to make it flow better, make more sense, and to clear up some silly grammatical or spelling errors. If you've already read it once, there's probably no need to reread it but I did add some key sentences that I feel really enhance the mood. Overall, I probably only added maybe half a paragraph worth of stuff but that makes the world of difference to a neurotic writer like me. I'll most likely edit it again before I'm through with this story anyways :-)

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_Early mornings are not my thing_, Beast Boy said to himself as he began to fall back asleep amidst a fit of muffled giggles. He had just woken to the most vivid dream he had ever had and even now, though he was lying on top of the familiar sheets of his bed and surrounded by the well known messy décor of his room, he could hardly believe it had only been in his head. The ocean before him, the house behind him, the girl in his arms, it had all seemed so real. He could almost still smell the sweet scent of her body and when he closed his eyes, a vibrant sunrise seemed to stretch before him. The changeling sniffed at his hands to find that there was barely a hint of lavender and honey mixed with the brief memory of an ocean mist. It sent a mild chill over his body. Beast Boy let out another chuckle to himself as he envisioned the scene. Raven.

_Oh my God. Hah. HAH. Imagine that. Me and Raven. Wow, what a loop. That's about as likely as Cyborg and Robin being secret lovers. Where in the world did that come from?_

He snuggled his cat nose closer to his body pillow and curled up for warmth. Sleep began to crawl over him, even though the first hints of the sun could be seen peaking through the pockets of space between his blinds. It had been a late night and would be an even later morning, he concluded.

_Some dream…but…it had felt so real. It was like I was there. Like she was there. There were other memories too. Robin and Starfire were married, only we called them Dick and Kori. Cyborg was an engineer for Star Labs. We were all members of the Justice League…and we had kids! Raven and I had kids! Two boys…or was it a boy and a girl? I can't…remember…_

The cat lightly purred as Beast Boy began to succumb to the early morning drowsiness.

_Mmm…it __**was**__ a good dream…Raven was…happy…I guess that's how I know it wasn't real…she said she…loved…me…_

These last bits of consciousness ebbed at his mind before he exhaled deeply and was gently swept away into peaceful slumber.

-

-

-

Later that day, Beast Boy found himself staring straight up at his dimly lit ceiling as bits of light shot over the top of his blinds. It was midday, probably just before noon, and the changeling slowly got up with a grown, knowing full well that if he slept any longer, one of the other Titans would most likely barge in to drag him out of bed. He had slept through the Tower alarm once, just once, about three years back when they had first begun working together and none of the original members had ever let him live it down. Today was most likely an exception, considering his abnormal condition, but pressing his luck only meant another stern lecture from Robin, and that was something any young hero could live without.

After jumping down from his bunk bed, Beast Boy shifted into a lion and proclaimed to the world that he was awake by bellowing out a resounding half yawn, half roar. After stretching accordingly, he morphed into a chimp, opened the door, and made his way to the common room. Tofu eggs sounded fabulous and the ape hurried his pace in anticipation. When he came in through the double doors, Beast Boy flew a lap around the room as a small hawk, much to Robin's annoyance. Too many stray feathers to clean up, he had said, but at the moment the changeling felt he could deal with some aggravated stares. Today, Beast Boy felt _great_, which was a welcome departure from the soreness he had felt when he first woke from his long sleep the day before. Starfire laughed and waved to him from the ground while Cyborg gave him an acknowledging nod from the table. Jinx, who was sitting next to the mechanical man, sipped at her cup of juice with a grin while eying the hovering bird. Had Beast Boy not known better, he would have sworn she had given him a wink.

After making another lap, the burning glare from Robin told him that enough was enough and the changeling landed silently on the counter. Beast Boy let Starfire play joyfully with his long tail feathers for a minute or two before hopping down to the floor as a small monkey and making a zipline to the fridge.

"It is such a glorious day!" the alien said as she zoomed around the room, much in the same way Beast Boy had before. "All our friends are once more within our company and this home feels whole again!" She was about to make another lap when she caught Robin's gaze along with the slightly mournful expression tugging at the corners of his mouth. She stopped suddenly and grounded herself before calmly making her way over to Cyborg and Jinx's table.

_Starfire's right_, the green monkey said to himself as he rummaged around for a frying pan to cook his eggs in. _Today is going to be awesome. I'm back, mostly anyway, I feel fantastic, and it's a beautiful day. With me around, we'll be sure to kick Slade's butt if he tries anything. Now all I need are some of my patented amazing tofu eggs special and I'll be ready to-"_

His inner monologue was cut short as the doors to the lounge slid smoothly open with a barely audible click. In walked Raven, cowl on and as silent as usual. Beast Boy froze on the counter, just as he was about to turn on the stove. The monkey's eyes widened, his jaw dropped and his heart began to raced.

_Crap. The dream. I almost completely forgot about that_.

Raven walked gracefully over to the counter and made her way to the cupboard where her kettle was stowed away.

_Well…she wouldn't know, right? No way she could. I mean…unless she's reading my mind right now. _

Raven's eyes flickered upwards from beneath her hood and for a moment their irises met. She imparted no emotion and as usual, here gaze was calm, serene and completely pacified. Beast Boy, however, nearly jumped as if he had just been zapped by one of Overload's tendrils.

_Oh my God, she's reading my mind __**right now**_

"You…need a hand with that?" Robin's voice caused Beast Boy to suddenly give out a loud shriek and immediately drop the frying pan which plummeted straight for the linoleum floor. Luckily, his tail caught the handle and he returned Robin's confused look with what he hoped was a sheepish grin. The entire room had gone silent as Jinx and Cyborg halted their conversation. The changeling shook his head at Robin who sat back uneasily in his chair. Jumping down from the counter, Beast Boy awkwardly made his way back to the fridge and extracted the rest of the ingredients: three cheeses, green and white onion, mushrooms, bell peppers, and some jalapeños for that extra little kick.

"Both you two sure got up late today," said the team leader as Beast Boy slowly reassumed preparing his breakfast.

"Couldn't sleep," muttered Raven as she took out a packet of tea from a kitchen drawer, "Bad dreams." Beast Boy nearly flipped the contents of his pan all over the counter.

_I was RIGHT. She's reading my mind. SHE'S GOING TO MELT MY BRAIN. This isn't happening…this isn't happening…Get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head, get out of my head, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, __**DON'T THINK ABOUT THE DREAM.**_

But try as he might, the only images that seemed to pervade Beast Boy's thick skull were that of the charming little vision the night before. No matter how hard he attempted to block it out, all he could think about was holding Raven in his arms and whispering sweet nothings into her ear. The girl in question conveyed no sign whatsoever of noticing his mental conundrum and simply continued to go through the methodical steps of making her tea. While she boiled the water, Beast Boy tried his best to focus on the task at hand. He slowly chopped his vegetables and cheese and only made his way to the stove once Raven had removed the whistling kettle and walked to the other side of the counter. After he rushed to finish making his eggs (they were a little tofu-runny, to his dissatisfaction), the changeling sat down at one of the stools, utensils in hand, determined to eat like nothing was bothering him. He stuck an enormous cheesy spoonful in his mouth and began to chew while staring straight ahead. Cyborg nearly spit up his milk in an attempt to keep from laughing when he noticed. The boy looked like a zombie eating egg-brains.

_You know, the more you try to block it out like that, the louder you project._

Beast Boy fell back in his chair as he almost chocked on his meal. After forcefully swallowing, he jumped back onto his seat and stared, mouth agape, at Raven who had taken the stool next to him with her tea. As expected, everyone in the room had their eyes focused squarely on Beast Boy.

_So you ARE reading my mind! I was RIGHT. And after all that junk about privacy-_

_I am doing no such thing_, she thought to him with a light smirk and a sip of her tea. _You're practically shouting in my head. You're projecting your thoughts __**everywhere**__. I can't help it if I'm in the room while you're yelling like an idiot._

Beast Boy stood up in his chair so he was eye level with Raven. _So pretty much what you're saying is that if I think something, you'll be able to hear it no matter what?_

_No, that's not what I'm saying at all. If you're mindful of your thoughts then you can keep them to yourself. It's just another method of self control, though I won't be surprised if that's something hard for you to grasp. Why do you think you haven't been able to hear every little thing I've been think- _Raven suddenly stopped mid sentence as a deep crimson began to swim across her cheeks. Everybody in the room watched the two intently as, from the outside world, it looked as if they were having the most intense staring competition ever.

_Did…did you just picture me __**naked?**_Stammered Raven as her blush suddenly turned into a menacing frown.

_No! No, I didn't, I mean…uh…augh. Crud. I'm in trouble now 'aint I?_

Raven simply gave him a slow, terrifying nod in reply, which even further confused everyone else in the room.

_Well…gah! You know how when someone tells you not to think about something and you instantly think about it? Well you pretty much told me not to think about the worst thing possible and…it kind of just, well…uh…sorry?_ Beast Boy looked at her with half terrified, half sheepish looking eyes that drooped down in apology.

_So you're saying that the idea of me naked is the worse thing possible?_

_No! That's not what I'm saying at all!_ He spluttered, obviously ill at ease. He raised his arms in emphasis and did a few jumps as he sent his thoughts aggressively at her. All the while, the rest of the Titans slowly looked at each other in near petrified bewilderment. What in the world was going on?

_I didn't mean you naked was necessarily a bad thing, I mean, to be frank, you actually have a nice bod-whoa, I mean, you're not ugly!_

_Not ugly?_

_No! You're better than not-ugly! Like, way better, loads better, I just couldn't help thinking, ya know, not that I can't control what I'm thinking or anything. But you said and then I just thought, what's the worst thing in the world I could be thinking of, and then I thought of you, BUT NOT IN A BAD WAY, in a good, bad, I shouldn't… I just…shit, wait, that's not what I, FECK, I…AUGH. Just put the shovel down, Beast Boy…put…the shovel….down._ He took deep, long breaths as he put his arms in front of him to try to calm himself down. The changeling was on the brink of having a panic attack and was hopelessly trying to slow down his racing heart. Raven in contrast sat on her stool coolly while experiencing a mixture of unbearable anger and surprised amusement. Half of her wanted to strangle him but the other wanted to legitimately laugh at Beast Boy's flustered expression. Instead of doing either, she merely sipped her tea, which was quite good in case you were wondering.

Finally, after taking a moment to catch his breath, Beast Boy once again spoke. Unbeknownst to either of them, the other titans were slowly walking in their direction as they continued their "staring competition."

_Ok…look. I didn't mean it that way. You know that, or at least you should. I would __**never**__…I mean…not never, but…I'm not a pervert, alright? Ok? I-I'm sorry and please, please, please don't kill me._

Raven's tea was just about gone. After another two sips, she put the cup down and thought, _I know. You're new to this, but that doesn't make you any less of a disgusting little boy._

Beast Boy sank in his chair.

_Now, what were you saying about a dream?_

_Oh, that's, uh, nothing,_ he thought to her as he perked up slightly, _Just some kooky dream I had last night. It was-hey! Don't give me that look! I said I wasn't a pervert. It's not like that, ok? It was just a dumb dream. Not even something worth remembering._

Raven gave him one last hard look that seemed to shoot needles straight through Beast Boy's heart. He knew she knew he was lying; for some reason he could always feel it when she saw through his lies. It was like being x-rayed or standing in public naked and Beast Boy averted his gaze guiltily as a result.

_I'm going to my room. Don't bother me._ With those last thoughts, the blue haired girl put away her dishes and calmly walked out of the lounge. As the door whooshed to a close behind her, Beast Boy let out a long, heavy breath and collapsed in his chair. He closed his eyes for a second, contemplating how stupid he must have just looked and all the wrong words that had sputtered out of his brain. That and there was something else that was bothering him. The way Raven had left…the "tone" in her last string of thoughts and the way she had reacted when he had said his dream wasn't something worth remembering...

_Was she…hurt? No, it couldn't have been that. She didn't even know what the dream was-_

Beast Boy was suddenly pulled from his reverie as a large mechanical hand poked him sharply on the shoulder. He opened one eye to see the giant faces of Cyborg, Starfire, Jinx and Robin hovering over him.

"Uh…you mind telling us what that was all about?" asked his best friend. Beast Boy pointed to frantically to his head followed by explosion motions and noises. Cyborg grinned, almost understanding what the changeling was trying to say, but the rest of the Titans merely shook their heads in furthered confusion. Beast Boy slumped once again in his chair and halfheartedly pushed away his plate of food. Suddenly he wasn't all that hungry anymore.

-

-

-

It wasn't until the cool tranquility of the evening came that Beast Boy was able to pluck up the courage to disobey Raven's immediate command and come sniffing at her door. The city alarm had gone off not thirty minutes prior but it had only been a minor bank robbery involving nothing more then two amateur crooks. Robin had insisted that he could handle it alone though Starfire of course refused to let him go into battle without any additional assistance. In the end, she followed him despite his disapproval, and they were most likely already well past the capture of the criminals and just starting the tedious police paperwork that accompanied their every heroic outing. Cyborg, after barely a few rounds of clobbering Beast Boy at their favorite video game (he was even worse now that he no longer had human hands and had to settle for oversized ape fingers), retreated to the garage to work on the T-car in solitude. Jinx and Kid flash were nowhere to be found, which was a predictable common occurrence. The Tower felt alone, abandoned, and Beast Boy wondered how long it would take for the rest of his team to find his body once Raven was done with him as he looked up cautiously at the looming door.

The green cat paw paused precariously for a moment in the air before carefully giving the door a scratch that was barely discernable. Beast Boy waited a moment before he heard the now familiar voice ring like a bell in his head.

_What do you want_?

_Umm…sorry to bother you but can I come in?_ Beast Boy spoke mentally as he gave the door another soft pawing.

_Go away._

_Uh, ok, bye!_ Terrified, the green cat raced from the door immediately as if it had just been unleashed for the first time. Beast Boy had been certain he was going to meet his doom the second he touched that door but, much to his surprise, he was alive and running.

_But from what?_ he thought to himself as he stopped abruptly in the middle of the hallway. With a furled cat-brow, he slowly made his way back to the room. _This is stupid. I gotta talk to her._

Before he could even lay another whisker on the door, Beast Boy once again heard Raven's voice channeled from inside.

_I thought you were going away now. _

_Well,_ he said slowly from the other end, _I was but…I really need to talk to you. I'm here to apologize_.

_Apology accepted. Now go away._ Beast Boy blinked for a second in startled bemusement. The swiftness of her response had caught him off guard and it took him a moment to recollect his senses. Once he realized what she had just said, he rapped sharply at the door.

_You don't even know what I'm apologizing for! C'mon Raven, let me in._

_You're apologizing for this morning. I get it. _

The changeling sat grumbling at the silence for another minute, trying to come up with an adequate response, before clawing again at the door.

_You're still there? What do you want?_

_Just let me in, Raven. I told you I want to talk to you!_

_And what if I don't feel like talking?_

Now she was starting to make him mad. He growled loudly in reply. _Don't be so stubborn! All I want to do is talk to you for five lousy minutes. Is that so hard? Now stop being dumb and open the door!_

As if on cue, the door swung open, causing Beast Boy to take a step back in surprise. Raven's towered above him with her cloak drawn back and her arms crossed. Her blue cowl was down but the green cat could see straight up into her eyes from where he was standing. A look of sharp impatience was glazed across them.

"You've got five minutes."

_What were you doing, reading?_

"No, I was meditating. Now it's four minutes and fifty seconds."

_Well actually, I was kind of hoping more for ten…wait!_ he yelled at her as she abruptly turned to leave, _Five minutes, that's all I want! I just want to apologize._

"I thought I already told you your apology was accepted."

_But you didn't even let me finish! An apology doesn't count unless the person accepting it knows what it's for._

Raven's eyes seemed to lighten up slightly as she looked down at the softly purring cat before her. With a disgruntled sigh, she dropped her crossed arms and asked, "Ok, what are you apologizing for?"

_For this morning, of course._ Raven slapped herself on the forehead._ Sorry. Let me be more specific. I did have a dream last night and as you probably figured out, it was about you. It wasn't…bad or anything, just different. But seriously, I really don't want you thinking I'm some kind of pervert or anything. It's not like that at all! I know I can be annoying at times, but it's just that I get so nervous and my mouth won't shut up. What I said was kind of out of line and…well you know how I can ramble on and on. Heh, I guess that's what I'm doing right now, isn't it? I'm just so nervous around you…_

Raven looked down at him with an uncertain frown. It wasn't that this kind of thoughtfulness was totally unexpected from Beast Boy but rather it was the peculiarity of the context that caught her off guardShe, of course, knew exactly what dream he was talking about, having experienced it herself and concluded that they had been one in the same. Still, his behavior seemed slightly odd. He was being earnest but not too earnest. For a moment, Raven had been afraid that the dream had given the changeling some strange, unacceptable ideas but his thoughts seemed to be motivated solely by concern for their friendship instead of some silly neurotic crush.

"Apology accepted." Beast Boy fell over with a defeated sigh at her words but quickly perked up when she continued to speak. "I was never really mad at you in the first place anyway. Despite the fact that you often leave me questioning whether or not you actually have a brain inside that head of yours or just an old piece of tofu, I know you're not some kind of sicko. You're too dumb to be that stupid." Beast Boy grinned toothily and let out a contented mew. "Anyways, your five minutes are up. I'm going back inside now. If you really want to make it up to me, you'll let me meditate." The cat gave a swift nod and danced off down the hall, obviously happy. Raven shut the door, once again confined to her solitude, and let out an exasperated breath she felt she had been holding during the entire conversation. She was just about to walk back to the room when there was an unexpected scratching at the door.

"Ugh. What?" she asked as she opened the door and looked down once more at the lively bouncing cat.

_I just had a great idea! What if I made it up to you another way? Right now! Please, please, please, please, please! _

"No," she spat as she hit the switch to close the door. Unfortunately for her, Beast Boy used his cat-like reflexes…or rather, his cat-reflexes to gracefully sprint into the room before the door closed on top of him. He ran quickly passed Raven and sprung lightly on top of Raven's bed while jumping in excitement the entire time.

"Beast Boy…you're in my room…what I have said about-"

_Yeah yeah, I know, you're gonna kill me, but this is way more important than that! You HAVE to let me make it up to you right now! You'll even get to meditate, just like you wanted, I promise!_

"The only thing I _have_ to do is make sure nobody finds your mutilated body."

Without missing a beat, Beast Boy leapt from the bed and landed squarely beside the pale girl. The cat purred softly as he rubbed his body on Raven's bare leg, sending a shiver over her entire body but doing little to temper her boiling rage. With a wave of her hand, Beast Boy felt the well-known cold aura of black energy cover his torso as Raven brought him to eye level. She was about to fling him out of the room when the cat shrieked and his mental voice stopped her from throwing him.

_Wait! This isn't just me being annoying, I promise you that what I have in mind will be worth it. Raven look at me. Look at me. I will not disappoint. _

Raven looked into his big round eyes as she contemplated the situation. The last remnants of the tremor he had sent through her faded away and Raven felt a wave of familiar anger and fresh confusion. A part of her still worried that perhaps, despite how astronomically low the chances were, Beast Boy and his hopeless romanticism had unwittingly targeted her as some kind of source of affection. That was something that was strictly forbidden and that even considering it was foolish. Friendship was one thing but the idea of love was something entirely different. Raven would fight for her friends, she would die for her friends, but to hope that she might be able to function at that level of intimacy was beyond reason. She had let the doors to her heart be opened on one singular occasion and that had ended in tragedy. Raven's gut tightened as she pictured her time with Melchior and the wretched, tainted feeling of being used. But, she thought to herself as she remembered the debilitating heartache, Beast Boy had been the one, the only one, to help mend and stitch her back together afterwards. He had been there for her when she had needed him most. A small ghost of a smile began to etch at the rim of her mouth and without another thought, Raven quickly made up her mind. The cat let out a mew and Raven dropped Beast Boy to the ground.

"Fine. If you're going to keep bothering me like this, which you obviously are, I suppose I have no choice but to come. But I reserve the right to leave the moment I feel necessary, got it?"

The cat jumped up and down excitedly in reply and, after tugging playfully at the edge of her cloak, ran out the door. Raven reluctantly followed. What was the worse that could happen, right?

_By the way Raven, you're going to need a swimming suit._

"What?!"

-

-

-

The pale blue haired girl found herself standing atop a large ash grey boulder that very nearly matched her own skin tone as she looked out over the ocean before her. Raven wore a sleek jet black one piece that had several thin cobalt blue lines that outlined the shape of her body. She wore no shoes and had she been any other teenage girl, she would have been shivering under the effects of the ocean mist. Thankfully, familiarity with low temperatures was something that came inherently with her black energy powers and Raven was quite used to the cold, ocean induced or not. A gull cried out in the distance and the sun shimmered brightly against the surface of the waves. Something about the scene seemed awfully familiar but the girl pushed the thought far away before she could arrive to any sort of conclusion. Instead, she watched Beast Boy make a few laps around the tower as he entertained himself with his many forms. He started as a bottlenose dolphin but leapt out of the water as a sparkling flying fish. The ocean seemed to explode as the fish became an orca whale and landed backwards in the water, sending droplets like millions of diamonds high into the air to glisten in the rays of the evening sun. As the surface of the marina turned white with foam, a sword fish erupted from the epicenter of where the whale had just landed. It twirled marvelously in the sky, sending more flecks of water to tickle the girl's face, before entering the deep blue once again as a dolphin.

_Are we going somewhere or are you just going to continue to splash me?_

The dolphin surfaced and raced towards the rocky shoreline of Titan Island. _About time you showed up. How long does it take for someone to put on a bathing suit?_

_Well I'm here, aren't I?_

_I guess that's a feat in itself, eh?_ The dolphin surfaced with a loud spurt of water from its blowhole and rested its chin on the large stone on which Raven stood. She looked down at him and thought perhaps coming out had been a bad idea after all.

_So what now._

_You get on!_ The excitement in Beast Boy's voice made Raven cringe as she watched the green dolphin circle back and offer its large fin to her.

_You've got to be kidding me._

_What, did you think I asked you to wear a bathing suit as a fashion statement or something? C'mon, get on!_

Raven continued to look down at him suspiciously. One part of her told her that this adventure could only end badly. It wasn't a bad call, after all, considering that chance was greatly in favor of her getting annoyed by Beast Boy's antics and abandoning him wherever he was planning to take her. All she had wanted to do that day was clear her mind, soothe her emotions, and loose herself in meditation, but her day's work seemed to have vanished out the window as she contemplated her present confusion. As much as she hated to admit it, Raven was slightly curious as to what this was all about. Would she regret not going? Would she ever even know what to regret? With those thoughts came the familiar chime that rarely blossomed in her dark and gloomy mind. It had brought her this far and the fact that it rang again, the second time in one day, was enough to set her on edge. Despite that, Raven could not deny it. What was the worse that could happen, right? She took a step and her bare foot met cool water.

_Will you be able to regulate your own osmotic pressure when we come back up to the surface? _Beast Boy asked as Raven slowly wrapped her arms around his dorsal fin.

_We're diving?? And since when do you know anything about osmotic pressure?_

_Hello! I'm Beast Boy? _he said with what sounded like amusement in his thoughts, _I go diving all the time. Even if I am a fish, it's something I have to deal with. I don't want you to get the bends or anything._

_Yes, I'll be fine. My magic can handle it._

Beast Boy slowly carried the two of them out of the shallows and towards the breakers that surrounded the city harbor. The sun was just starting to fall, it seemed, but they would still have quite a bit of light for at least another hour or two. Raven tightened her grip around Beast Boy's sleek and slippery body as he slightly picked up speed. His skin was cold to the touch but oddly comforting as it carried her. Even if it was just Beast Boy, riding on top of a dolphin felt akin to gliding along the water's surface and it was a feeling Raven had never experienced before. She could taste salt at the edges of her lips and even feel it in her hair as strands of it stuck to her now moist skin and trailed every so often into the corners of her mouth. Beast Boy began to slow down as he neared about a mile's distance from shore and Raven pulled lightly on his fin to bring herself upright on his back. As she sat, she could feel a cool ocean breeze compliment the soothing warm southern Californian water that came up to her waist. Looking over her shoulder, Raven could see the city stretch over the horizon with the giant T of their home looming over it. Behind it all lay a range of purple mountains laid against a baby blue sky that stretched all the way across the sandy coast line and out of view. They had swum out farther than she had thought.

_Are you cold?_

Beast Boy's sudden voice in her head shook Raven from her thoughts and she brought her attention back to the green mammal beneath her.

_I'm fine. I'm used to the cold._

_Alright_, he thought_, we're going to dive now but it won't be too bad, I promise. It'll only take maybe a minute to get there if I go fast, probably less. Your lungs can hold out that long, right?_

_But how am I going to breathe?_

_Oh, don't worry! Everything's already set and ready._

Before she could protest, Raven felt the dolphin beneath her begin to dive and she once again lay flat on Beast Boy's back while straddling him with her legs. The sea water quickly enveloped her as the green dolphin picked up speed and began jetting as fast as it could straight down and into the ocean depths. They passed several schools of shimmering fish and, through the blurry water, Raven could make large patches of dark shadowy objects some ways off in the distance.

_What are those?_

_Oh, those guys?_ replied Beast Boy as he continued to dive, _that's a family of humpbacks. They pass through every year around this time on the Californian current. They're following their food supply north. _

_You know them?_

_Not really. They're pretty protective of their calves but Aqualad introduced me once. He's a lot better with the whole talking with ocean animals thing than I am anyways._

_Aqualad? _Raven asked inquisitively.

_Yeah, we go racing like once a month or something like that._

_Who usually wins?_

_Uh, we usually tie…_, he replied quickly.

_Sure you do, _Raven said with a hidden grin. Looking around her, it seemed that they were now alone in the deep blue abyss that was the ocean. Schools of fish no longer swam around them and as far as she could tell, the water seemed deserted. Light too began to fade and the water's temperature dropped even farther as they entered the icy depths.

_How much longer?_

_We're almost there. How are you doing on breathe?_

_I'm alright. There's no need to worry._

_Sweet._

Another few seconds passed as they raced through the current before Raven spoke again.

_You've improved._

_At what?_ Beast Boy asked after thinking for a moment and finding no answer as to what Raven was talking about.

_Keeping your thoughts to yourself, _she replied calmly.

_Hah. Have I? Heh. T-that's good. I really didn't know if I was doing any better or not since you hadn't said anything 'till now. Thanks._ Beast Boy blushed mentally and let out an inner sigh of relief. He had been trying to stay "mindful of his thoughts" during their entire afternoon time together and had up to now been convinced Raven had heard all the thoughts racing through his, what she would assuredly consider, immature mind. The fact that he could precisely feel the girl's breasts pressed against his back along with her thighs wrapped tightly around the lower portion of his body didn't help at all.

_We're just about here._

There was a sharp tug underneath her as Raven felt Beast Boy suddenly change course and angle shift slightly upwards. They were now completely enveloped in pitch black darkness and Raven could no longer make out any of the world around her. It had been slightly unnerving, diving into what looked like utter nothingness. Against the backdrop of the deep blue sea, Raven had for a moment had thought they might have been the last two beings in all existence. It was like space without the beauty of the stars or a sky without color. But, oddly enough, pressed closely against his back, Raven could feel Beast Boy's warmth and it calmed her. She was just about to say something about the lack of light when they unexpectedly broke the water's surface. There was still no light but the shock of leaving the water had surprised her so much, Raven sputtered and coughed a bit before regaining her usually collected poise.

_Are you ok?_

"Yeah," she said out into the darkness, "you should have warned me though."

"…sorry."

"It's fine." It was just then that Raven noticed that she could feel a soft breeze cooling her wet face. The air was also somewhat moist and when she spoke, Raven could hear her voice lightly booming around her. "Beast Boy, where are we?"

_We're close. This tunnel goes on for a bit so hold on for just a little longer. _

The pair made their way through what seemed like unending darkness. The pitch was so thick, Raven swore she could almost feel the lack of light, something she was well accustomed to. Beast Boy had said it was a tunnel but Raven could feel neither walls nor a roof when she stretched out her arms. Several minutes of uneventful silence passed until Beast Boy suddenly interrupted the silence of Raven's mind with the last thing she had ever wanted to hear.

_So…you and Robin, huh?_

"What?" Raven's voiced bounced and echoed off the rock walls that presumably surrounded them. The volume of her own voice surprised even her and it took another second before she could speak again. "What are you talking about."

_You know…you and Robin_, he thought to her, obviously trying to sound nonchalant._ I remember you talking to me about it._

"I **never** talked to you about any such thing."

_Oh sure you did. It was…like…I don't know, but I specifically remember us talking about you liking Robin_.

"Beast Boy," she said with little patience in her voice, "Think about that for a second. _Why_ would I talk to you about liking Robin?"

_I dunno, but I know you did. I just can't remember when. _

"Well I didn't and I don't. Like Robin that is. At least not in that way. Besides, even if I did, he's with Starfire now."

_I remember us talking about that too. C'mon, are you sure we never talked about this?_

"Yes, Beast Boy, I'm sure. Now if you don't mind, I'd like it if we dropped the subject."

_Whoa, you don't have to be so defensive. I was just asking. Trying to make conversation, you know._

"I'm not getting defensive. I don't know what you're talking about."

_Well you don't sound defensive but you sure __**feel**__ that way._

Beast Boy felt Raven suddenly stiffen on top of him. He knew that, in a momentary lapse of self control, Raven had let slip an instant of unbridled emotion. Mentally, Raven chastised herself for letting the mention of Robin shake her so. She hadn't expected Beast Boy to be able to tune into what she was feeling but this psychic bond they had established apparently went deeper than she new. Normally, Raven had such control over her own feelings that it wouldn't have mattered, but for some reason, perhaps due to the cold or maybe the immensity of their dive, Beast Boy had been able to catch her off guard. He had trapped her and she knew it.

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about."

_Oh, yes you do. We're a million miles under the ocean and it's just you and me. Come on, let's talk._

"I don't do 'talking.' You know that. And why are you so interested?"

_I'm not. I'm just curious is all._

"Are you always so nosey?"

_Yes_

"I can leave, you know."

_And miss out on what I've got to show you? Hah! Unlikely. You came this far, you're goin all the way, baby._

"Did you just call me 'baby'? And was that _supposed_ to be a sexual innuendo?"

_Uh, no?_

"Alright, I'm gone."

_Sorry! Sorry, I'm just kidding!_ Raven had began to clothe herself in energy to teleport away but stopped as Beast Boy halted underneath her. _Really. No more of that. But you have to admit, you like Robin_.

"And what makes you so sure?" she replied as they continued to move forward.

_I dunno. A feeling?_

Raven let out a loud sigh that sounded even louder as it echoed around her. "You're really not going to let this go, are you?"

_You know me!_

"Ugh…fine," she said reluctantly, "I'm attracted to Robin. There, happy? Now if you tell anyone, I'll-"

_-explode my brain and hide the body, I've known you for a couple of years Raven, I'm pretty sure I know when to keep my mouth shut._

"Could have fooled me."

_Oh ha-ha. Very funny. Seriously though, why Robin? _

"Why so eager to know?"

_I told you, I'm just curious. Both Titan babes are head over heels for our anally retentive, obsessive leader. I'm just wondering why. Maybe it'd give me some pointers._

"Did you just call me 'babe'?"

_But not 'baby.'_

"Ugh. Not all the pointers in the world could help your cause."

_Hey, I'm not that bad! I'll have you know I get quite a bit of fan mail from plenty of ladies._

"If by ladies you mean twelve year olds."

_What's your point?_

"Ugh."

_Anyway, why Robin._

Raven paused for a second to gather her thoughts. This idea of why was something not even she had ever pondered over. Up until now it was something that had just…been, and she had uncharacteristically simply accepted that.

"Robin…he saved me. He was there for me when I didn't have anything else. When I didn't feel like I could ever go on any more. When all hope was loss, I had him. And that gave me strength."

_Whoa, seriously? I mean, no offense Raven, but you don't strike me as the type to fall for a knight in shining armor. _

"You would think so. But the same thing happened with Melchi-wait. Why am I telling you this again?"

_Cuz we're friends? And, uh, friend's tell each other everything?_

"Guess again."

_Sorry. I don't mean to pry. I just wanted to know. But if you feel that strongly about him, why don't you do something about it?_

"Because. I could never do that to Starfire. Besides, I don't think he could like me in that way."

_Why not? What's not to like? I know I complain about you all the time but you're a really cool girl, even if you __**are**__ way-_

"Don't say it."

-_creepy._

"You're walking a thin line there, fish boy."

_I'm a dolphin, thank you very much._

"Funny, I was gonna say idiot."

_I still think you should talk to him about it. That said, you two would make one odd couple. I don't know if the Tower could handle that much moodiness. Cuz we both know that neither of you-_

"Stop. This conversation is officially over, got it?"

_Heh, _he replied reluctantly, _alright, whatever you say. But thanks for talking._

"You're not welcome."

The rest of the journey continued in silence. Raven still felt blind but at least Beast Boy seemed to know where they were going. The draft she had felt earlier seemed to be getting stronger with each passing moment and the echo had gotten so loud Raven thought she could hear herself breathing. Finally, after what seemed like forever, the ride stopped.

_We're here. You can get off now; the water should be shallow enough for you to stand._

Raven timidly slid off of him with a small splash and was surprised to discover that he was right. Her foot met smooth rock underneath the water and she found she could stand while being submerged to about her shoulders.

"Where are we?" she repeated from before.

_Walk forward but be careful, the first step is kind of high. _

Annoyed at the lack of a legitimate response, Raven slowly obeyed his request and cautiously made her way in the direction Beast Boy had planted her. It wasn't long before her toes felt a wall of stone that came up to her mid thigh. There were indeed steps and with a small hop, Raven lifted herself onto them and began walking out of the water. When she got to the top and seemed to be back on level ground, she stopped.

"Ok, that's it, I'm not doing anything else until you tell me where we are."

_Ready? 3…2…1…LIGHTS!_

"Huh?"

_Oh yeah, I can't talk anymore. Well that made me look stupid. Could you, uh, say 'lights' please?_

"…lights."

Immediately there was brilliant flash and Raven was momentarily blinded as her eyes adjusted to the intense light all around her. It took a second or two but once they had focused, Raven could hardly believe what they were seeing. Around her lay a vast underground cave that sparkled and shimmered like nothing she had ever seen before. There was a winding corridor at the end where the large cave seemed to narrow that she could see winded on and on out of sight and into the distance. The ceiling loomed several hundred feet above her head and was a rustic beige-orange with long, enormous limestone stalactites stretching down like stony fingers. White calcium deposits could be seen coursing between them like thin spidery veins. The ceiling, like everything else in the cave, looked to be covered in a moist watery film and in places where rocks did not hang, it looked as though the stone itself were made of tumbling waves. Nearly everything around her looked to be smooth and cool to the touch. The ground was made out of white limestone that made her toes tingle and it seemed to have been paved level to make a sort of pathway around the many pools of water that coalesced under the dripping stone icicles. These pools melded several different colors as the white limestone slowly combined with several shades of vibrant turquoise and emerald colored rock. Eyeless amphibians and even a tiny fish or two could be seen swimming around in the shallow depths all around her. All these things made Raven gasp but their sights paled instantly in comparison to the cave's walls. All around her were shards of natural glass that protruded sharply from the ceiling down to the floor. The lights that were hung far above her sent reflections of the cave's natural beauty everywhere and the sheer amount of colors that seemed to shoot out from the many prisms was almost overwhelming. They dazzled almost blindingly and with every step she took, the scenery around her seemed to morph and change along with her. It was as if they were incased in an oversized geode. At the far end of the cave, near the entrance to the winding tunnel, Raven could see another flattened platform that came up like a miniature mesa. On top of it was a set of furniture that seemed to be carved straight out of the limestone.

"Beast Boy…where are we?"

_You like it? You like it, right?_ he replied to her awestruck face. _I knew you'd like it!_

"How did you…where did…where are we?!"

_Aqualad showed it to me after we first met him. It's an under sea cave that stretches on for miles and miles. It's probably the biggest cave on the western seaboard that nobody knows about. _As he spoke, Beast Boy turned into a small monkey ran excitedly forward towards the stone furniture. _There's a surface entrance somewhere but not even Aqualad knows where that is. That's where this breeze is coming from. _

"But what about all this?" Raven asked as she motioned to the stone chairs and table, "Where did this come from? And the lights too."

_Oh, well, that was me. Mostly me anyways. Tramm helped quite a bit too. We retrofitted this entire portion of the cave so people could come down here. He helped me carve the furniture and the steps and put up the light and everything._

"But why?" she asked, sitting down on one of the stone benches. As Raven spoke, Beast Boy sat down next to her as a small monkey and looked off slightly to the side. The girl noticed as his eyes seemed to suddenly stare off into nothingness. He had tensed up without warning and, even though he had kept a good cap on his emotions thus far, Raven could feel the faint hint of a deep throbbing pain emanating from the small green simian.

_Well…I got the idea after Terra first left. I was convinced she was going to come back…some day and I wanted to show this to her. Only she can't see in the dark if she wants to like I can. No bat powers, you know. So I…yeah. I had just finished around the time…well…everything happened. But now it's too late and she's gone. Mostly gone, anyways. But that's ok since I'm showing it to you! Plus, I figured you could teleport here any time you wanted to be alone now that you know where it is. It'd be a great place to meditate by yourself, wouldn't it?_

"Yeah…" she replied, still dumbstruck by everything around her. She had seen plenty of caves before but this was certainly a genuine find. After a moment of getting over the shock of it all, the beauty around her and the thoughtfulness of her friend, she brought her attention back to Beast Boy who seemed to still have that glazed look in his eyes.

"Are you…ok?"

_Yeah_, he replied, but the lingering emotion of thoughts seemed to imply otherwise. _I just…I guess I didn't think it through too much before bringing you here. Typical me, right? I haven't been back here since Terra left. It brings back...memories. _

Raven didn't know what to do. Though she was slightly peeved that he had brought her all the way here just to break down, Raven had never really sat down and spoken to Beast Boy about Terra. Even when he had been hurting so badly, when the wounds had been fresh, Raven remembered that all the Titans had left him alone. They had all left him to grieve, thinking that would be the best course of action. But when she had been crushed…when her heart had been broken, had solitude been the answer? Suddenly, it hit her harder than any villain ever could, and Raven realized her own folly and the great disservice she had done her friend. He had been there for her but no one had ever been there for him. Not when his family died. Not when the Doom Patrol left him. Not even when Terra had rejected him a second time. She recalled his long history, the story that had been spread before her when they had both been stranded in the realm between life and death. It made her gasp.

"Beast Boy...you know you have friends. You know we'll always be there for you, no matter what. You couldn't get rid of us if you tried. What happened with Terra…that…none of us ever wished that upon you. And you were right. You were right the whole time. There was still good left in her, despite how truly evil it looked like she had become. And when she got trapped for good-"

_But she wasn't gone for good!_ he interrupted suddenly, _She came back! She just…didn't want me around anymore…_

"I'm sure that's not the case, Beast Boy. She's just a different person now. The Terra we knew, the Terra that was a Teen Titan, as far as we know, she's gone. And it's not your fault. It was never your fault. Terra made her own choices. You had nothing to do with that. You have to understand that with time, things-"

_-change…I know. Thank you Raven. I'm sorry, I'm such a jerk. I brought you down here to try to make you happy but all I've done is make everything feel depressing. I hate being mopey._

"I hate you being mopey too. But it's ok. I'm can do depressing. You should know that. I am glad you brought me down here, I really am. This place is…amazing. More amazing than words can describe. But I just want you to be ok now. A good friend once told me that no matter how alone you feel, you're not. You're not, Beast Boy."

_I know, Raven. I have…you._

Just then, Beast Boy morphed without warning. His body lost its green fur, his torso lengthened, and the tail that had previously been drooping over the edge of the stone bench retracted into his body. Instead of skin, the familiar colors black and purple seemed to stretch over him in costume garb. With astonishment, Beast Boy ran to the nearest pool of water and looked down at his reflection. What looked back at him was a face he felt he had not seen in a long time. He had the same messy green hair, the short stout nose, and even the pointy ears he so adored. He turned back and around and faced Raven who looked back at him with just as much surprise as he did at her.

"What happened?!" he asked, "I'm me again!"

"I don't know!" Raven said in amazement, "I think I-it was my powers. At least I think it was. I morphed you back."

"Whoa, just like before," he replied in astonishment. "Killer! This is great! I have my body back! Thank you!" With those words, Beast Boy practically leapt on top of her in joy and encased Raven in a tight bear hug. She hesitated at first, surprised at his sudden show of affection, but slowly eased into him until she found herself wrapping her own pale arms around him as well. After all, she had hugged him before, and this was just normal, if not expected behavior. The Boy loosened his grip but brought her in closer at the same time. With their arms around each other, they almost seemed to be floating or falling or both.

"Thank you…"

That's when Raven felt it. It was something different, something unexpected, and something totally alien to anything she had ever felt before. When she realized what it was, her mind attempted to reject it but her body did not follow in stride. She relaxed. Her muscles released their tension. Her lungs became short of breathe. She became comfortable. Comfortable enough to feel his warmth. It started at the tips of her toes and traveled slowly like bouncing goose bumps up her entire body, even to the edges of her fingertips. The tingling sensation went up past her clavicle and to her hot face. The last thing she did before it spread to her mouth was involuntarily crinkle her nose in dreaded delight. When Beast Boy let go of the embrace, he saw it too, for the first time in his memory. While he had seen something similar before, never had he witnessed it without one of her many masks covering her complexion, not even when they had defeated Trigon. Even then she had held back. That had been the closest he had ever witnessed an occurrence. But this…this was something Beast Boy had been searching for since the day he had met her. Raven poured her deep cerulean eyes into his and the crimson blush that ran across her face was unmistakable. Raven was smiling.

"Wow…what do you know…" said the boy softly as he brushed away a wandering strand of her hair, "there it is."

The words struck her mind like hot bolts of lightening and even though she was unable to show any outward reaction, it was as if Raven had just been rudely awoken. As she lost herself to the depths of his green eyes, one phrase blared loudly in her brain.

"No. No, no, no, no, no, no! Oh God, no."

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Whoo! What a long chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that it was worth the wait. Now…you know what you must do. The button is right there. It's SO CLOSE and it'll take you less than a minute. Just click it and tell me what you thought. Please! If you have any suggestions, I'm open to them. Expect another update, say, in about 2 days. Until then, catch you later!


	13. Chapter 12: Fresh Feeling

Sorry this took FOREVER to get here. Life has gotten so hectic so unexpectedly. And what's worse, this chapter is actually a lot shorter than the ones I've been writing recently. Totally not worth the wait, I'd say. But, if you're a BBxRae fan, you're in for a treat. This chapter is super waffy. Hope you enjoy!

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Chapter 12: Fresh Feeling

It took a moment for her to reassume her usual demeanor and once the fleeting moment had passed, Raven let her arms fall at once from Beast Boy's side. The boy's brow cocked upwards in an inquisitive glance as Raven instantly turned from him, trying desperately to hide the blush that unwillingly caused her cheeks to wash over red. But even as she turned her back on him, Raven instantly realized the worthlessness of the gesture. Beast Boy had already seen what felt like everything and no amount of awkwardness could reverse the instant they had shared. The girl bit her lip in fear. Something like this was exactly what she had been afraid would happen but Raven had never imagined this kind of juvenile behavior would have spawned from her own delinquent emotions. Beast Boy stood staring at her back in awe.

_She smiled_, he thought to himself, _She actually smiled. She smiled at me. She's never smiled like that. She's never blushed like that. I didn't even know she __**could**__ blush like that._

"Raven. Are you ok?" he asked, not really knowing what to think. There was something else underlying here that the changeling could not seem to put his finger on. Raven had smiled, that would have been enough to throw him into a loop, but now she was acting like a nervous child. It was something wrong, something obvious, and the kind of thing everyone else but him would instantly understand. He could feel it, some kind of pulsating, burning sensation that lay just at the tip of his tongue, hidden under covers, lost in translation, and eluding him completely. The situation was quickly getting more and more uncomfortable as Raven stood motionless. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she spat back at him as he tried to put a comforting arm on her shoulder. The girl flinched when Beast Boy made contact and swiftly pulled away. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he retorted immediately, "Everything was alright a minute ago but now you're starting to scare me. What happened? C'mon, I thought you and I could talk to each other."

"Why would I _ever_ want to talk with **you?!**" she yelled, turning around to meet him to his surprise. There was venom in her tone and hatred in her eyes. Beast Boy could feel himself tremble in what he was sure was involuntary motion as he took a step back in shock. That's when Raven mind clicked and she suddenly realized what she was doing. Her eyes widened and the girl gasped when she saw the look of fear and hurt on the changeling's face. There was a long pause while each of them stared at the other until Raven finally broke the uneasy silence.

"Beast Boy, sorry, I didn't mean…" but the green boy took another sharp step back as she tried to reach out to him. For once, it seemed, he was speechless.

"Look," began Raven as she dropped her gaze to the floor, "All you ever do is pester me day in and day out, trying to get me to follow along in your idiotic antics. I know you have the best intentions and I'll always be your friend but why can't you understand that I just want to be left to myself sometimes? Why must you always single me out? Why did you have to bring me down here? All I wanted to do today was meditate but I couldn't even do that…Why can't you just stop?"

Raven raised her head to meet his eyes where they remained fixed. Beast Boy no longer looked scared. In fact, much to her surprise, he seemed almost amused. Without warning, Beast Boy's arm shot out from his side and grabbed hers. Instinctively, Raven tried to pull back but he held on tight, smiling the entire time.

"What're you-"

"You almost had me there," he said, interrupting her sharply. Beast Boy was smiling so widely now that Raven was sure he'd burst out laughing any second. "You almost had me thinking we'd go back to that old junk we passed like a million years ago. But that is so last season. Raven, I will never let you go. You're my friend. One of my _best_ friends. And I've known you long enough to know what happens when you get close to someone."

"Beast Boy, you're hurting me," she said as she continued to struggle to get her arm free. But he merely laughed, not a malicious or haughtily but rather as if Raven had just said the silliest thing in the world.

"No, I'm not. Stop," he said as he put his other hand soothingly on her clenched fist, "stop running. Now, I know I'm not the smartest dude out there but I think I know when one of my closest friends has a problem. I'm not going to let you do this any more."

"What are you talking about?" Her voice sounded sharp and angry but by now her body had conceded and rested comfortably in his grip. Instead of struggling, she now found herself transfixed by the boy's forest green eyes.

"You know, you're the craziest girl I've ever met. Ever since the day I met you you've been trying to do two things at once, be with friends and be alone, and it's never really worked. I know you care about us. I know because you've even told us from time to time and I believe it when you say we're friends. But if we're friends, why are you always so nervous? I've seen you laugh, Raven, I've even seen you smile, though that last one was quite a doozy. But every time someone gets close to you…every time one of us tries…why do you hate the idea of facing one of us alone? I brought you here because you're my friend. I did it because I thought you might enjoy it. And you did! Don't lie to me, I saw it in your face. You were smiling, Raven! Smiling! You have any idea how excited that gets me? Do you have any idea how hard that is to do? The great and mysterious Raven, for a single moment letting down her guard and letting the world see her pretty face! Why do you always have to hide that away?"

"I'm just…" she choked as she continued to stare into him, "I'm..."

"Scared?" Beast Boy said as she immediately scowled. "That I won't like you?"

She replied with silence.

"Like I said, that's old stuff. Of _course_ I like you, Rae. You think I would put up with your crap if I didn't? You beat me up like twice a week, and that's if I'm behaving! Now that's some tough love, doncha think?"

Raven stifled a chortle but, to her dismay, Beast Boy caught it immediately and spread his cheeks in his trademark toothy grin.

"What was that? Was that a laugh?"

"No!" she spat back but her lip trembled as she spoke. Beast Boy squeezed her hand and took a confident step forward before continuing.

"That's all I ever wanted from you, Raven. Do you remember the day we first met? Do you remember what you said to me?"

"No other words in history have been followed with such regret." Her eyes glared at him but the rest of her face seemed unable to hide her secret, despite how hard she tried. It was unmistakable. The hint of a smile was etching at the corners of Raven's sweetly thin lips.

"You said I was funny. There were witnesses, you can't deny it!" Beast Boy chuckled as he wagged a finger at her, "And that's all I want from you. I want you to stop running. I want you to stop being scared."

"Beast Boy, I…"

"You're not going to hurt me. And the last thing I'd ever do is hurt you. I'm laying this all down on the table right now and I don't want it to come up ever again, you hear? This is it," he said as he took another step, "no turning back now," another step, "just breathe."

Beast Boy inched his way forward and for one gleaming moment, Raven thought he was going to swoop in and kiss her. Eyes in shock, her face went white, her innards quaked, and her lips seemed to quiver in the air. But much to her relief (or was it dismay?), Beast Boy's head remained steadfastly lowered and he instead rested it on the crook of her neck as thin arms encircled her back. Raven was once more, for the second time that day, in complete shock and without a single inkling as to what she should do. She could feel his warmth through their thin clothes, the soft brush of his hair and the tight grip that seemed to wrench not at her torso but at her very heart. And despite his genial request, Raven found she was quite unable to breathe.

Arms trembling, she brought them up before her, not knowing whether to embrace him or push him away. They twitched and the moment of deliberation felt not like the second it was but an entire lifetime. At certain intervals in life, a person will abruptly find themselves before a unique set of circumstances, a crossroad that must be met with patience and understanding, thoughtfulness and self control in order to properly discern the best course of action that will indefinitely impact one's way of life. This was one of those moments and Raven unfortunately had none of those qualities at her present disposal. Rejection or acceptance? What would it be? A torrent of "No's" filled her swimming brain like a thumping locomotive about to careen off track. All she could hear was "no", all she could feel was the utmost sense of dire trepidation; the anxiety of it did all but make her scream. But she did not. Instead, Beast Boy only brought her in closer and his pointed ear tickled the bridge of her neck as if telling her to stop thinking for once and to do what she wanted to do.

Raven squeezed him tightly, bringing her arms around his slim body and her head down to nuzzle gently by his ear.

Exhale.

At that moment, pictures like camera flashes spattered her vision and Raven became lost in what was in her arms. Family. Loss. Pain. Joy? Yes, she felt much joy. Joy juxtaposed with fear. Fear of losing his friends. Fear of never finding his parents. Fear that it was all his fault. The pain. Her pain. Fear and irrational responsibility. Fear that this moment would end. Fear that she would walk away. And with a startle, Raven realized completely how afraid Beast Boy was and how it nearly overshadowed her own terror at the malignancy of life. But there was something else. A warmth that drew her in closer. A beating that caused her to press deeper and clutch to him as if letting go would make the world itself crumble around them.

It was hope. As Beast Boy's heart thumped over hers, both in time, she could feel it rise over and envelope her and everything she had never had. Never dreamed of having. For the first time in her life, all her fears melted away like oh so many layers of filthy clothing being peeled off one by one. And at her center, all Raven could now feel was his warmth and his joy and his hope coupled with the life and elation that was her own. Tears slowly welled and dotted her eyes, surprising both of them with their sudden wetness, but nothing could prepare them for what happened next.

As though control had been wrenched from her body, Raven's pale round lips lingered downwards and nipped lightly at the tip of the changeling's green ear lobe. Beast Boy shook as electricity coursed through every reach and corner of his body.

"Did you just kiss me??" the boy asked as he pulled back slightly and looked into her tear streaked eyes.

"No, I-"

"Yes you did," Beast Boy said as a smile crept over his face, "you just kissed my ear! Raven, what-"

"I don't." She said flatly.

"But-"

"I didn't."

"Yes you did," he replied, starting to get impatient. Raven averted her eyes.

"I…I…" She was at a loss for words and Beast Boy could see it. The scene had suddenly turned from intimate to awkward as their arms remained limply draped over each other, the warmth of their bodies slipping from comforting to stifling and their eyes suddenly playing a wayward game of tag.

"What was that?" his voice asked unsure of itself.

"I don't know," Raven replied sullenly as she let go of him and looked sorrowfully at the ground. Tears continued to slip freely through her eyes, slowly coalescing at the tip of her nose until they fell with an inaudible splash to the ground. Beast Boy's arm hesitated over her, uncertain whether he should comfort her or not. He had heard of girls becoming suddenly emotional but he had expected to be met with it today, least of all from Raven, and the entire scenario was completely alien to him. Raven sensed his stare and quickly sat back down on the bench behind her to steady herself.

"Raven, talk to me!" Beast Boy implored as he sat down next to her and draped a cautious arm around her slumped shoulder. He could feel her tense up at his touch but slowly, as her tears fell in silence, she seemed to loosen under his comfort.

"Raven…" he repeated after a few minutes had passed. She continued to sob bitterly to herself.

"I…I…"

Beast Boy replied with a gentle squeeze to her shoulder.

"D-Do you have any idea…," Raven as the last sniffle of her weeping ceased. She continued to look down at the ground as she spoke. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be next to you?"

Beast Boy remained silent and merely responded by slowly moving back Raven's hair with a stray finger. Her deep, dark eyes looked up at him from underneath, puffy and slightly red from crying.

"It's overwhelming…I can't take it," she said, "everyone else, they're always manageable. Cyborg is always busy with a million things at once. Starfire is always a single layer of joy. And Robin is usually so focused on one thing so much he has little room for emotion. But you…you…." Her words faltered but her eyes did not. "You have this…this brightness that make's Starfire feel calm. I can feel it Beast Boy. This…all this sadness. You're just as depressed as I am. Just as alone."

The changelings gaze fell into hers as the seriousness of the situation suddenly gripped them both.

"But," Raven continued, "despite it all…even though you have so much pain inside of you, you can't help emanate this sense of hope. This joy and happiness that mixed with all your grief is anything but bittersweet. It makes it stronger. Brighter by contrast. And it's everywhere. I…I can't take it. I don't know how you can DO that. Every day I retreat to my own tightly nit seclusion. Every day I'm so very scared. And when I'm around you, sometimes it feels like I'm drowning because I just can't keep it out. I can't keep it _down_. You're right. You've always been right. I've been running from everything for as long as I can remember. I've just been so afraid…I'm…I am such a coward…"

Her voice cracked under the strain of those last words, causing Beast Boy to come in closer and tighten his hold on her. Raven felt limp in his arms.

"No, you're not," Beast Boy said calmly after a minute or two of silence had passed between them. "You're the bravest person I know. You're so smart and independent. Most people…most people can't do that alone. They can't face that alone. They just don't have that kind of strength. But you do, Raven. No matter what's put in front of you, no matter what people have told you from the day you were born, you've always pressed on. There is nothing you can't do. Nothing you can't accomplish. As far as I'm concerned, you're the farthest thing from a coward I've ever seen."

Raven sat still as she pondered his words, so very much like what her team leader had said to hear more than a year before. That was what had turned her then; it was at that point that Raven realized she had fallen for Robin, or at least that was when she concluded she had. But this was different. Much different in ways she could not begin to describe. It sounded similar but everything about it contrasted so fully she did not know what to think. It felt as though her mind was blank but her heart was beating with a fury she could not neither identify nor deny. Raven finally raised her head from between her knees and sat straight up. Beast Boy smiled his genuine smile as he looked into her with his most illuminating of eyes. Raven brought her head slightly closer.

"Are you afraid?"

"Of what…?" he replied in the softest of whispers and completely oblivious.

"This."

"…of course not."

Raven continued to look deep into his forest green eyes.

"What…," he asked after a moment, "What is it?"

And without another word, Raven slinked forward. Her body leaned in, her hand moving back far behind Beast Boy as their bodies drew in closer. The changeling was riddled once more with shock as she hesitated for a second, allowing both of their hot breathes to mix in the inches of space between them. Then, without warning, their lips met and she kissed him like he was all there was. His mouth, his taste, his hair, his body, his love and hope, Raven drank it all in as she kissed him, felt him and tasted everything about him as she pressed her body into him. All her books, all the fairy tale loves she had read, the knights in gleaming armor and the lonely women of lore that were fulfilled by them, all of those thoughts and dreams and ideas came up utterly short to the realization of life and brilliance Raven held before her now. Beast Boy hesitated for the faintest of moments before becoming instantly lost in her scent, her oxygen lips, the way the stray strands of hair tickled at his forehead and how their mouths seemed to fit like puzzle piece reunited at long lost. The surprise of it all made him falter at first but he was soon encouraging, trying to take in as much as possible as if he were a diver reluctant to come up for air and she the ocean that beckoned him to drown in her depths. They fell hard and fast, into each other, into the other's arms, into breathe and spit and the piece of space where there is no sound. Beast Boy and Raven kissed while the cave shone around them.

And just as quickly as it had happened, it was over. Whether it was seconds that had passed, minutes, maybe even days, Garfield Logan could not say, but he found himself suddenly torn as she broke their embrace and turned quickly away.

"Raven," Beast Boy said as if he was slowly waking from a dream, "that was…amazing."

"No," she said quietly, almost to herself with her back to him, "no, this is all wrong. It can't…you can't. You're not…This is all wrong. I need to…"

Raven was shaking lightly as she stood up, still refusing to face the green boy behind her. Beast Boy instantly stood up as she did.

"Raven?"

"I have to go meditate." Black energy swallowed her whole as the boy began to sound his denial.

"I'm sorry, Garfield."

Beast Boy ran forward, but before he could lay a finger on her, she was gone. He stood, frozen in place as the silence of the cave rang sharply around him. There was a sudden drip from one of the pools of water nearby. Beast Boy was alone.

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So was it waffy or what? I told you! What'd you think, I would really like to know. Was it too much or just right? In character or overly melodramatic? Please tell me! I don't have to work today so I'll be working on a chapter that should be up by sometime tonight. Stay tuned and be sure to review!


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